Harry Potter and the Other Path
by Fez8745
Summary: Harry's life up to his eleventh birthday was painful and harsh. Dumped in an abusive home by dead parents, running away from that home to take his life into his own hands and then surviving by his wits and his feet. Then a letter came, and opened a whole new world... An AU fiction with hopefully enough action and comedy to entertain.
1. Pre Story Note, Please Read

**WARNING**

This Story is not mine, it is one of my favorites from HarryPotterFanfiction and noticed it was not on this site, If the creator messages me and asks for me to bring it down i will, However Until that happens i figured i would share the amazing story with everyone on this site so here it is.

I do not own Harry Potter  
I did not Write this story  
Don't Review with Advice about it.

once again  
I DID NOT WRITE THIS STORY  
I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER.

Thanks and Enjoy this amazing fic.

A Link to the original can be found on my profile.


	2. Roofs at Night: 1

Harry Potter and the Roofs at Night Chapter 1 : London, somewhere

The owl swooped down over sleeping London, a letter, signed and sealed in emerald green clutched in its talons. Even if it had had only the stars to see by it would still have been able to fly true, but it wasn't necessary. London sleeping was almost as bright as London awake. But light or no light this delivery was a tough one. The post owls prided themselves on being able to find anyone but it didn't make it easy when the address was simply …

_London, somewhere…_

But Dumbledore had given her special instructions for this delivery, and she never wavered in her flight, swooping down past a row of shops, past bakers, bankers and opticians and curving cleanly into the alley behind them to alight on a streetlamp. Her big brown eyes took in the whole scene, the brick walls, the large dumpster bins and the small boy, wrapped in a coat too large for him by half, trotting down the alley from the other direction.

The boy stopped next to one of the dumpsters and quietly lifted the lid, running his hands past papers and coffee grounds. He began picking out broken glasses, cracked lenses and the like, transferring them to a pocket of his coat. When he had a full pocket he did something peculiar, he scratched a cross mark into one of the walls of the alley, then sat down opposite it and began putting first one, then another of the lenses to his eyes. After an hour of this, the small boy's face broke into a smile at a particular half-cracked lens, he grinned as he spun it into the air like a coin, and rolled it across the back of his fingers.

A moment later the boy was rummaging in his torn and tatty backpack and eventually drew out a small parcel. When he unrolled it on the ground the owls eyes sparkled in the glimmer of four more lenses, one a mirror-match of the one the boy held in his hand, this he took and replaced the others carefully in his bag. The next to come from the bag of tricks was a frame (selected from a few in the bag) and a tube of glue. Two pinprick dabs of glue to each lens and the boy carefully laid his prize on the floor to dry, then crawled behind the dumpster and rolled himself up in his coat.

The owl waited until the child was asleep, then calmly hopped off its perch and placed the letter beside the child, he would find it in the morning. By the yellow halogen lamp it read...

_Harry Potter  
London, somewhere_

*

Harry Potter flickered between waking and sleep for the longest time. Slipping in and out of dreams he would not remember on waking, until he fell into a deeper slumber and curled himself tight into a little ball, a well of warmth with his hands tucked in his armpits and his head ducked down. Shifting and gliding from dreams of the past, of leaving the Dursleys.

Harry Potter always thought of as just leaving. He did not run away! You can only run away from home, and Privet Drive had never been home. He had decided that. He knew he had another home, he dreamed of that too. Not with images or anything tangible, just of a sense of warmth, and also pain, he didn't understand that. Other dreams pushed in on his night time reminiscence and he touched on other things, the pies in the nearby bakery, the work to do tomorrow and tonight's work, still drying, on the ground, until…

"Get up! Get out!"

Not Harry's rudest awakening, but far from pleasant. Harry uncurled like a spring, just stopping to grab his work on the ground before pelting off down the alleyway, chased by the irate baker. Rounding a corner Harry ran on, past surprised, mildly startled and downright shocked pedestrians, past lamps, dogs and pigeon flocks, even past and through the cars as Harry dashed across a busy road. It no longer mattered that he'd lost any pursuers three blocks ago, it was just good to run.

Harry stopped in Regents Park and ducked to drink from one of the fountains and snatched a few coins from the bottom. Soon hopefully he would have money coming to him (at least, as much as he ever had) and he could take some small measure of it to fill what was more often than not lately a gnawing hole in his middle (at least it was summer, winter was worse). Harry walked down Euston road for a while, not caring or seeing where he was going until he reached the station itself. The sun was higher by that time and people were beginning to come and go from the building.

"Not commuters yet though." thought Harry "not for hours."

Harry set his hat down where no one could avoid him, or pretend not to see him, and slipped three coloured balls out of his coat. Shifting them all to his left hand, he flicked his new glasses on with his right. The balls became edged in crystal clarity as the lenses slipped over his eyes. Harry stood in the square and laughed for a while, laughed into the morning sky while the people around him stared or frowned, then, in a twinkling, Harry swept all three into the air and spun them around his hands faster and faster. He laughed as he fountained the balls up above his head. People began to take notice as he added a fourth ball, and a fifth. People walked past and turned to stare for a moment before flipping coins into his hat or even waited there watching him for a while before moving on.

Harry smiled, this time not for the act itself, but for the coins. This was why he had had to make glasses and why his stomach was emptier than normal. He hadn't been able to manage more than three balls since Christmas. Just to show himself he could, Harry added another ball and split the balls into two circles ("Oooh!" Said a small girl passing by. The mother smiled at him, but didn't drop anything). The two circles became one again as they began to wobble ("Out of practice" thought Harry) and he pocketed two of the balls back away, he had to keep this up for a while.

The sun was high in the sky before Harry moved from his spot. He scooped his winnings to an inside pocket and went off to buy lunch. He bought sandwiches at some newsagents with no real name and ate them slowly on a park bench and drank more water from a fountain. On the way back to his spot Harry passed another food shop, the cakes in the window looked even better than the first ones had. Harry walked past, thrift was in his bones.

When Harry got back to the station he realised something was wrong. In the exact center of the square was the biggest man Harry had ever seen. From the toes of his large leather boots, past his heavy furred overcoat (Bet that's warm, thought Harry) all the way to his face, so covered , variously, in beard, moustache and dirty black hair that only small parts of skin were visible, the man was easily eight foot tall. The very appearance of the man was so striking that for a long moment Harry didn't see what the man was doing and then he became even more curious. The tall man seemed to be looking for something, he would consult a piece of (very old and yellow looking) paper then look around, staring at people, then look worriedly back at the paper.

"Maybe he's lost" Thought Harry. But the tall man didn't seem to be about to move on, neither did he seem to be the type to ask directions. Harry was torn for a moment between apprehension at the imposing figure and a chance to snap up a bit more money from helping a lost tourist. But a moment later his indecision became redundant as the tall man turned to look at Harry and his face broke into a huge smile. The tall man ran over to where Harry was standing (breaking several paving stones) and stopped in front of the startled child looking, in turns, happy and relieved.

Yes?" Volunteered Harry, "Can I help you?" he hazarded, then (in a last ditch effort to regain normality) "are you lost?"

"Nope," Said the tall man, spreading his mouth in the widest smile Harry had ever seen. "I think I've found what I've been looking for."

"And that is?" But Harry already dreaded and expected the answer.

"Well you o' course! Didn't you get… Hey Wait!" By halfway through the sentence Harry was halfway across the square, and accelerating.

Harry dodged across a side road and began haring down first one back street then another.

"One good thing about being chased by a giant…" thought Harry "You know when he's behind you!" The pavement cracked and buckled as the tall man chased Harry, he didn't seem to run much but he only had to take one running step to Harry's three and he didn't have to dodge through crowds either, people fell over themselves to get out of the way. And all the time they were running the tall man kept yelling

"Wait! You got to have yer letter! You got… Out a my way you! … to read it! Stop!"

Harry pelted off a main road and down an alley, he was moving so fast he almost shot past the thing he had been searching for. Harry skidded to a halt and grasped both hands round the cast iron drainpipe (his little trick was less useful now most pipes were plastic but it had still put him above and away from more than one bit of trouble), his feet went against the wall and he pulled himself hand over hand upwards, two of his balls slipped out of his pocket and fell back down but he ignored them, he could get more (well, he could probably get more, and in a pinch anything round would do) and pulled himself onto the tiled roof above him. Harry lay there for a second, finding his balance (and his breath) before sliding back to the edge and looking over. Three stories down ("It had looked so much larger from the bottom" thought Harry) the tall man stood hunched over, catching his breath in huge, leviathan, gulps that disturbed the dust on the ground. The man managed to stand up after a few moments and began rummaging in his coat. After a few tries at various pockets he managed to pull out what looked like a sealed envelope and thrust it into the air.

"You got… to have… yer letter." The man said breathlessly. He wiped his hand across his face and shook the sweat off on the ground. "Blimey you're fast." And with that the tall man dropped to the ground and sat there mopping his brow.

"Who are you?" Called Harry "and why are you chasing me?"

"I was chasing you 'cos you bloody ran away wasn't I!" Said the tall man, pulling off his coat to expose a dirty white shirt and suspenders. "Why'd you do that anyway?"

"Because I've never met you before." Said Harry. " Why would someone I've never met before be looking for me at Euston station! Also…" added Harry as another thought hit him "how did you even know I'd be there!"

"We've met before Harry, y'just don't remember. Not that I'm surprised at that, you were small enough to fit in my hand back then, and you were easier to catch." The tall man said smiling. "I knew you when you was a baby. Knew your parents too, friends." The mans head drooped for a moment then came back up quickly. "As to how I found you, well, I had some help with that." The man reached into his coat and dug out a pink umbrella with frilly lace edges, it looked almost like it should be in a cocktail nestled in his big hands.

"An umbrella?" Said Harry "Oh of course!" Harry stood up and began strutting along the edge of the roof ("Careful" cried the tall man") "Why didn't I see it before? An umbrella, a magical umbrella that points you on your way! The umbrella of light, The umbrella of seeking!" Harry spun on one foot and began walking the other way. "The pastel, pink umbrella of plenty!" Harry threw back his head and laughed. "You're nuts mate! An umbrella can't help you find anyone."

"You think so do you?" Said the man, still smiling, "Then I think it's high time you read your letter." The man put the letter on the ground in front of him (pausing for a moment when he realised he had been using it to mop his brow) then stepped back and pointed the umbrella at it and mumbled under his breath.

"Hey!" Harry jumped back and almost fell over as one corner of the letter burst into purple flames.

"It's all right! It's all right!" Cried the man, stamping out the fire with his boot. " It only got the envelope and that was pretty wet so it's all right. I'll try again." Harry watched in stunned anticipation as the man stepped back again, raised the umbrella carefully and mumbled something slightly different towards the envelope. For a moment nothing happened. Then, slowly, one edge of the envelope lifted up, dipped back down again ("steady" mumbled the man) then righted itself and rose by one corner as if it was drawn up by an invisible thread. The letter rose higher and higher until it drew level with Harry's face. He stood up and the letter obligingly rose to accommodate him. Harry carefully reached out and waved his hand over the letter, then under it, then all around just to be sure. He finally drew his hand back and whispered

"How…" Harry leaned in to get a closer look and suddenly, momentarily, forgot he was on a rooftop. His feet slipped out from under him and he tumbled over, skinning his legs on the edge before falling like a stone. As he spun in the air he looked up to see the letter, still casually floating above him. "Weird day…" Thought Harry, then large hands caught him.

"What'd you do that for?" said the man. Setting Harry back down on the ground where he stumbled and sat down on a delivery pallet. "You coulda' been hurt, or worse!"

"How?..." Harry pointed to the letter now gently drifting down from the roof. "no strings…"

"Oh, that's easy stuff." The tall man waved his hand disparagingly "Even I can do that, you'll learn that in your first week, its one of the simplest charms."

"Charms?!" Harry felt like running away again but his legs wouldn't move. "Like, as in, spells?"

"Ah…" said the man "I was afraid of that. You're aunt and uncle probably meant to tell you when you was older. We didn't know if they had."

"You know my aunt and uncle." Harry looked at the man and tried to work out the chances that this person was friends with his aunt and uncle. Low, he decided, very, very low.

"Nah, I never met um. But we knew that was who was taking care of you after your parents died." His parents… Harry tried to remember what his aunt had told him about them. Very little, just that they were the wrong sort of people and died in some accident. A fire wasn't it? Or maybe a car crash? Anyway Harry had privately decided that if they were people his aunt disapproved of then he probably would have liked them a lot. Liked them better than his aunt and uncle at least.

"That was a long time ago." Harry snapped back to the present. "and I'm better off without them taking care of me!" The tall man gave him a shrewd look, taking in his heavily worn clothes and shoes. "Well…" added Harry "at least now I don't get slapped if I don't have meals ready for them on time." Harry grinned "Who knows how they managed without me? Probably starved to death trying to work out how the oven works." He laughed and was pleased to see the tall man laugh too. "Mind you it'd take a while to starve Dudley. Fat reserves like a camel!" Harry did a quick fat-cousin impression, waddling along the alley, and the man laughed harder.

"We'll wherever you've come from you're going somewhere better." Said the man when he finished chuckling. He fished the envelope back off the floor and handed it to Harry. "This should explain most of what you're wondering about and I'll fill in the blanks." Harry took the letter carefully and looked at it before opening it. It was an old fashioned one, made with yellowing parchment and sealed with a coat of arms in wax, melted wax now of course. Harry wiped the sticky mass away with his sleeve and opened the letter. Inside were three pieces of paper and what looked like a train ticket. All made of funny old paper. He stared at the ticket, it had gold leaf an it and had a large crest ("probably the same one that was on the letter") embossed into it. Harry wondered what kind of train required a ticket like this, and where such a train would go to. ("Either a land of rich people…" thought Harry "…or a chocolate factory.")

"Read the letter, read the letter!" Urged the tall man impatiently. Harry tucked the ticket into his pocket and pulled out one of the sheets of paper. He opened it. His eyes slid from one side to the other. He had read each line about three times before he finally believed that what he thought he read was actually what was on the page. Harry held the letter in front of him and tried to calm his voice before saying,

"A school?"

"Yep," Said the tall man smiling "Hogwarts, best school in the world for people like you. Course the other schools'll tell you different, but anyone who knows what there talking about says Hogwarts is the greatest. Course we have Albus Dumbledore, none of the rest of em can say that."

"Who's he?" Said Harry, still desperately trying to avoid the one part of the letter that had him shaking most. "Someone famous?"

"He's the headmaster." Said the tall man, drawing himself up importantly. "He gave me this job himself. Great man Dumbledore. But you'll be seeing him when you reach Hogwarts." Harry's eyes were drawn to the postscript on the bottom of the letter, written in a different handwriting than the rest of the text, and with different ink.

_P.S._

Due to your special circumstances an escort has been provided for you to explain and help you through the process of preparing for your first school year. If this letter has not come to you via one Rubious Hagrid then you will be meeting him shortly. I wish you all the best for the start of your first school year.

Albus Dumbledore

"Rubious Hagrid?" The tall man nodded.

"Yep that's me. Gamekeeper, caretaker and keeper of keys at Hogwarts."

"And…" Harry took a deep breath, there wasn't much else he could ask before he asked this so he should just get it over with. "…Hogwarts is a school of magic?"

"Of course." Said Hagrid. "As I said, best school in the world."

"Magic like you just did? Making things float and explode?"

"Well, yeah." Said Hagrid "What did you think it meant? Those tricks muggles ("muggles?") use to fool each other?"

"And you think I can do that?"

"With a little training o'course, that's what Hogwarts is for." Hagrid put his hand on Harry's shoulders "Come on, we've stood here long enough and we need to be getting your school stuff. But first we should get you washed up and in some proper clothes." Hagrid led Harry down the alley. Harry followed placidly.

When your entire life shatters like glass and is replaced something glittering and new, sharp and scary. When your life changes in an instant you can either pull back, hold on to the old, try to pick up the pieces and risk destroying the new crystal future you have found, for the sake of safe waters of the past. Or you can drop, laughing into the new life, with its shiny possibilities. And you either ride it through, or get swallowed under.

Harry laughed as he walked out of the alleyway, and into shiny futures.


	3. Roofs at Night: 2

Harry Potter and the Roofs At Night Chapter 2: Jack

Harry raked his hands through his shorter hair, trying to make it flat. The hairdresser had nearly shoved them out of the shop when they arrived, a conspicuously tall man and a child with uncombed, unwashed, un-anythinged hair. Hagrid had paid her in notes that looked very old.

"Did he make them with magic?" Thought Harry suddenly. "Could I make them with magic?" The clothes and the shower at a gym had both been similar oddities but apparently the largest oddity was yet to come.

"That looks alright now." Hagrid had said coming out of a clothing store. "Now for the real shopping."

"This stuff?" Harry fished the list that had come with the letter out of his pocket. "Books, wand, cauldron… toad?"

"Nah, no toad." Laughed Hagrid. "But all that other stuff you'll need for Hogwarts."

Harry hurried alongside Hagrid, his mind still buzzing with questions. But there was no way he was asking about magic in a crowded street full of muggles (or was it muddles, or mugwerts. Something like that anyway.) And when they finally turned into a doorway Harry was so busy looking at where they were that they were pushed to the back of his mind. They had stepped, hopefully deliberately (this didn't seem like the sort of place that would sell books, or make potions other than the general alcoholic sort) into a dark, oak beamed, pub full of solid, old-looking furniture. The drinks behind the bar had odd names and some of the liquids fizzed or bubbled. In the dark light Harry could have sworn one of them was glowing faintly. The sign outside had said "The leaky cauldron". It certainly fitted one of the criteria.

As Hagrid led Harry across the floor, weaving around tables Harry began to notice other things that didn't quite fit. Like the clothes people were wearing, half of the people were in normal, but hideously inappropriate and mismatched, clothes. But the other half wore what looked like long flowing robes in various colours. The smaller items were stranger, no watches or walkmans, but instead one man held a marble in his hand. As he gripped it the sphere went cloudy-red and the man began consulting a shopping list worriedly. Another man was showing off what looked like a sheep's skull with odd symbols painted on it to his friends ("Less than a sickle ("sickle?") and new they go as high as five!"). In a corner two ginger kids who looked like twins, not much older than Harry himself, were swapping some sort of trading cards.

"Well…" thought Harry. "At least that's normal."

"The usual Hagrid?" For a moment Harry didn't see where the voice had come from. Then he realised they had reached the bar, and the tender was talking to them. "Also there was someone in here selling wyvern eggs. Probably just painted ostrich ones but you never know."

"Nah, nah." Said Hagrid waving one of his big hands. "Got no time for a drink or to look at stuff for myself. On Hogwarts business." He patted Harry on the shoulder. "Important."

"Fair enough so… ohh…" The barman was looking at Harry, or more accurately, at his forehead. Harry put his hand to it and realised that, with his new haircut, the old scar on his forehead was no longer hidden.

"Got it when I was little." Said Harry, unless the bartender was wondering. "I've always had it." Did this guy have a scar fixation or something?

"Of course you've always had it lad!" Said the Bartender, half amazed, half amused. "You're Harry Potter!"

The room went dead. Suddenly every eye in the room was turned to him. Somewhere around a glass tipped over, spilling its (fuming and bubbling) contents on its owner. No one noticed.

"Harry Potter." Breathed one of the people nearest him. "Can it be?" It took Harry a second to work out the question was directed at him and another to decide how to answer.

"My names Jack." He said, affronted. "Why you all staring at me?" Sound seemed to come back to the barroom as people turned back to their drinks, mumbling and in one case shouting ("Oh no! its all over my shirt!"). And Harry turned back towards the bar and looked up into the incredulous face of the barman and then further up into the confused face of Hagrid. "I got the scar falling off my first bike, odd shape isn't it?" Harry smiled.

"Yeah, that right… Jack." The barman turned around chuckling under his breath while Harry turned to face Hagrid.

"Would you mind if we got out of here." Harry said quietly. "Please." Hagrid nodded quietly and led Harry to the back door and opened it for him. It was only When Harry got out that he began to breath properly again. Harry's hand shook as he wiped cold sweat off his brow. What was that all about?

"Harry?" Hagrid said quietly. "Um… why did you just do that?" It took Harry a second to compose himself enough to answer.

"They knew me somehow, or at least knew my name." Harry shuddered. "If a room full of strangers knows your name its either very good news or incredibly bad news." Hagrid fished out a water bottle and handed in to Harry, who gulped it down. "Plus they were all staring like they expected me to do something. All I know how to do for an audience is juggle. And somehow I don't think that was what they were looking for." Harry splashed some of the water into his hand and slicked down one side of his hair, right over the scar. "Hagrid, why were they staring at me?"

"Ah… well… you see that's…" Hagrid dry-washed his hands nervously. Then straitened and walked over to a wall pulling out his umbrella. "That can wait till later, it's not something I want't discuss in a dark alley." Hagrid tapped bricks faster than Harry could follow and stepped back. "There…" Said Hagrid, obviously keen to fill every silence lest questions re-arise. "Here's where you can get your school stuff, Diagon alley." The bricks spread apart around the area Hagrid had tapped, opening out to a window into another world.

A long winding street, full to the brim with odd robed people, and odd shops filled with odder merchandise. Colourful signs swung from the overhanging stories above them, showing that the shop below sold broomsticks or fireworks. People sold things out of barrows on the edges, odd vegetables and wooden toys that danced or spun. For now Harry was content to follow Hagrid, draining in the sights and the sounds of the place. He was almost disappointed when Hagrid stopped in front of a large colonnaded building and went inside. 

* * *

The inside of the building was as majestic as the outside, with two long desks running the length of the high vaulted room. Light came from windows high up on the walls. Along each desk sat curious creatures consulting lists or counting out piles on coins. There were bags of coins behind the desks too, and the only sounds were the clink of metal on metal and the scratching of quills. Harry suddenly had the odd sensation that he had entered the cathedral of money, the church of cash, and knew, acutely, that he hadn't been to worship in a while.

"Hagrid." Harry said quietly. "Why are we here?"

"Here to make a withdrawal." Said Hagrid, as if it should be obvious. "Can't buy your schoolbooks with muggle money can we."

"This is a bank!?" Exclaimed Harry, and was shushed by a nearby creature. He continued in a quieter voice. "I don't have any money to withdraw, certainly not from a place like this."

"Oh, but you do." Said Hagrid, smiling. "You're parents set some money aside for your education before they died."

"My parents?" But the rest of the question was lost as they reached the desk they had been headed for.

"Yes?" Said the creature, in a bored voice.

"Mr Harry Potter (sorry Harry) here to make a withdrawal."

"Key please." This creature obviously wasn't impressed by the name, if anything it looked more bored than before.

"Key, right…" Hagrid dug through pocket after pocket, spilling various things onto the floor and the desk. Harry picked up the things he could recognise, like scissors and a dog collar, and left the other bits where they were, some of them were moving. "Ah!" Hagrid produced a key, that had probably been shiny gold before encountering Hagrid's pocket, and put it on the desk. "There we are. Also there's one other thing." Hagrid leaned in close to the creature and handed him a sealed piece of paper. Harry thought he recognised the curvy signature on the front. "It's about what's in vault 713."

"Of course." Said the creature, reading the note. For the first time it seemed interested in what it was looking at. The creature ("They're goblins Harry, sorry I didn't mention that. I keep forgetting you're new to this. Goblins, and this is Gringots.") summoned over another like it but younger and with a slightly less laconic expression. This new goblin introduced himself as Greeklunk, rolled his eyes at the back of the departing goblin and led them through one of the doors in the back and down to what looked like a mine car.

"Um Hagrid?"

"Yes Harry."

"I've never been in a muggle bank so I have no comparison but I'm fairly sure mine-carts don't figure into it."

"Oh Gringots runs under half o' London. If you had to walk to the vaults it'd take all day. Goes down pretty far too. The top security vaults are down there, guarded by curses, and traps and dragons…"

"Dragons sound like a good security method." Said Harry, climbing into the cart. "Of course it could be a problem if you actually want to withdraw anything without being char-grilled."

"Oh dragons aren't as bad as all that. That's just anti-dragon prejudice."

"Do they breathe fire?"

"Well yes."

"Are they ten foot long?"

"Oh most are much bigger than that!"

"With huge claws, teeth, muscles?"

"Um…" the cart took off with a jolt. "I see where you're going with this Harry."

"Just playing around." Harry said as the cart gathered speed. Soon the walls were passing at a blur, other tracks winding off to either side. The cart passed through vast caverns and through pin-hole passageways, tipping so far on the bends it threatened to come off. Harry stood face-first to the wind and closed eyes, letting the gusting noise swirl around him as the carts movement buffeted him. After a second he turned to Greeklunk, just one question on his mind.

"Does it go any faster?"

"One speed only." Said Greeklunk wistfully. He shared a quick smile with Harry and turned his face into the wind too. After a second he added with a wide-mouthed goblin-grin, "But we can go round some loops if you like!"

"No!" Hagrid's muffled yell came from the corner where he sat hunched over. "Blazes Harry, are y' trying to kill us?"

"Are you alright Hagrid." Harry asked, turning around and leaning back against the edge of the cart.

"I'm fine, I just hate these gringots trolleys." Hagrid said, blanching "And hold on to something!" Harry had just spread his arms out like wings to better feel the wind, but obligingly put them back down. "You make me dizzy standing like that."

The cart eventually slowed and pulled up next to a vault. Harry hopped out of the cart to examine this new surrounding followed, much more slowly and with thought for his stomach, by Hagrid. Greeklunk led them to one particular vault and turned brought out the key Hagrid had given the desk goblin. The lock squeaked as Greeklunk turned it with the key and there was the sound of large bolts drawing back.

"Here you are Harry." Said Hagrid as the vault swung open. "Your inheritance."

Harry's mind rebelled. Not true, it insisted to its dishonest eyes, the pictures your sending me just can't be true. There is no way. Just no way… Harry barely noticed as Hagrid walked into the vault and took a few coins from the piles of gold and more generous handfuls from the silver and bronze piles.

"This should be enough to go on." Hagrid stepped back out of the vault and had to physically move Harry to allow Greeklunk to close the door. Harry was silent as they stepped back into the cart and for a while just stared at the walls rushing past until finally he felt he had his own thoughts in order enough to try and get answers for them.

"Hagrid? My parents left money here, so they must've been magic too, right?"

"Well of course they were! Lilly and James Potter. Head boy and girl of Hogwarts they were when they were there."

"Magic runs in families?"

"Normally it does yes."

"My aunt and uncle?" Harry asked incredulously.

"But not always." Hagrid added nodding. "You're mum was the first on her side of the family with it."

"And they were stinking rich?"

"Comfortable Harry, comfortable." Hagrid sat up to talk face to face. "I suppose they never were strapped for cash but hardly _stinking_ rich, no, no.

"But, that vault?"

"Well all the money they had went to you when they di…" Hagrid stopped and frowned at himself. "I'm sorry Harry, I should'nt've blurted that out."

"It's all right." Harry said shrugging. "I don't remember them."

"That's not all right!" Said Hagrid with a mix of anger and sadness. "If anything that makes it worse!"

"Tell me a little about them then." Harry said, careful not to let one shred of eagerness enter voice. "It might take your mind off the cart for a while longer." Harry laughed as Hagrid suddenly looked around and ,seeing that he was sitting up, not holding on and had momentarily forgotten his nausea, let out a yelp of surprise and curled back into a corner.

After a moment he began to talk and Harry let the words wash over him. Hagrid didn't seem very good at telling stories, his mind jumped about with many a "and there was this other time…" and seemed to jump from his fathers first year at Hogwarts, to his parents wedding, to some game called Quidditch his father apparently played, to just describing his mothers face. In the middle of a blow by blow description of a fight between his father and some other kid (Snipe?) Harry realised they were no longer moving. Glancing around he saw a dim, disused, dingy and dank part of the bank caves with just one large vault in sight next to the cart. Thinking back Harry realised they had not moved in some time and he glanced over to Greeklunk who smiled back at him, waiting at the control levers. Harry mouthed

"Thank you." at him. Then said out loud… "Hagrid? I think we're here."

Cut off in mid flow, Hagrid shook himself out of his reminiscence and stood up. As Greeklunk led them to the door Harry noticed that it had no keyhole and no handle. "Deep down in Gringots." He thought. "And even higher security than they put on piles of gold?"

"What are we here to get?" Harry asked warily.

"Best you don't think on it too much Harry." Said Hagrid. "Special mission from Dumbledore . Very secret."

"Something magical?" Harry asked. "Another umbrella perhaps?" Hagrid looked at him oddly for a moment before realising it was a joke. Greeklunk ran a finger down a part of the doorway and it dissolved like dust into the air. The goblin then stepped back warily as if he didn't want to be closer to the contents of the vault than he had to be. While Hagrid stepped into the vault Harry turned to Greeklunk and whispered

"Do you know what's in here?" The goblin shook his head.

"And I don't want to find out." The goblin shuddered. "The vaults down here are the top security. I haven't been here long enough to see more than one or two. Sometimes its just money, people who want it as safe as possible and don't mind the extra charge, but sometimes…"

"Worse?"

"Much worse." Greeklunk leaned against the wall and put an odd stick in his mouth and began to chew it. "There was one guy a few days ago, Rich toff from one of the old wizarding families. All he took out was money but I swear, in the back of the vault there was other stuff. Chains, knives, a rack, not new stuff mind but some of it looked… used." Greeklunk trailed off into silence, chewing softly.

"You allow people to store stuff like that here?" Harry asked.

"That's not the worst of it." Continued Greeklunk, shaking his head. "That stuff could easily have been full of dark magic. In fact, considering the source, it probably was." Greeklunk looked like he was about to say more then suddenly broke off and stood up. Muttering to himself he began to pace. "You won't tell anybody I said that will you Harry?" Greeklunk said, sounding worried. "Only transactions are meant to be confidential and everything. I shouldn't have let myself run like that."

"It's alright, it's not as if you mentioned names or anything."

"I only wish the higher ups would see it like that." Greeklunk shook his head. "Ah… time to go." Hagrid stepped back out of the vault stuffing a small grubby parcel into his pocket.

"Something small" Thought Harry. "Something small but very valuable and very secret and possibly very dangerous. Something magic. Something…" (he glanced into the vault as the door reappeared) "…valuable enough to rent out an entire vault just for it. What are we the couriers of?"

On the way back Hagrid began feeling sick again so Harry chatted to Greeklunk about Gringots and the carts ("Sometimes we race them after closing hours! Er, better add that to your list of stuff not to mention again Harry."). Finally the cart reached ground level again and they got out, waved goodbye to Greeklunk and stepped back into the torrent of sound in diagonally.

* * *

"Right, first things first." Hagrid looked up and down the street and stopped when he saw a shop that appeared to have a needle-and-thread sign outside its door. "We need to get you some robes." _Madam Malkin's_ was empty except for the proprietor who fussed over Harry like a mother hen, standing him up on a stool and pinning and tucking the long black robe she threw over him.

"You'll be going to Hogwarts of course." Madam Malkin's voice was muffled by the pins and clips held in her mouth. Hagrid, standing in the back of the shop mimed drinking and pointed back to the leaky cauldron, when Harry nodded he stood up and walked out the door. Harry suddenly felt a little vulnerable. Not from people, Harry knew how and when to run from trouble, but from this world. He was in a foreign country and had just lost his translator.

"So everyone keeps telling me." Harry smiled wanly. Madam Malkin stood up and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry." She said in a comforting motherly way. "It can take you like that if you're new to this. You'll soon enough get into the swing of things."

"How did you know I was new to this?" Harry asked (or did everyone know him here? He quickly glanced up but his scar was still hidden by hair.)

"I see a lot of Hogwarts students come in here for their first robes." Madam Malkin moved around to his other side to begin working on that. "You get so you can tell the ones who are muggle-born just by the way they look at anything magic sideways. But in a years time you see them come back carrying broomsticks and making the stools fly just like the rest. You'll fit in." She knelt down to begin on the hemline and Harry was left feeling more stable than he had all day.

"Just a matter of getting my sea legs." Thought Harry, idly taking two balls from his pocket and juggling them one-handed. "Get stable in this new world and you'll be fine." Harry added another ball and kept on with one hand, using the other to get out his list. "Still need quills, still need parchment, still..."

"I wish I could do that." Harry looked up to see a girl about his age standing in the doorway of the shop, an adult (judging from the froth of brown hair they were both endowed with, probably her mother) stood talking with one of the shop attendants and fiddling with gold coins she didn't seem familiar with. Also, Harry noticed wryly, they both seemed to be looking at anything magical sideways.

"Do what?" Harry said as the girl was led onto an adjacent footstool.

"That." The girl pointed at Harry's right hand and he realised he was still bouncing the juggling balls.

"Oh, that." Harry suddenly felt like impressing someone and added another ball before moving to both hands and separating them out into two loops. He caught one ball in each hand then flipped his wrists and let the others fall onto the backs, he balanced them there for a moment before slipping them back into his pockets. "That's nothing." Harry grinned and winked.

"I tried to learn how to juggle once." The girl seemed to speak as if everyone should sit up and take notice. "I got a book out of the library that was supposed to teach you but I kept dropping the balls." The girl seemed to realise something and turned to him (making the person pinning up her dress swear and suck a pricked finger) "Unless of course you used magic. Its probably easy for you to do if you do magic. I never knew I was magic until the letter came and I'm so glad but I bet I'll be behind everyone else, that's why we came out here the first day we could so I would have a chance to get lots of books for background reading. I just hope I don't end up looking stupid." The girl seemed to stop more from lack of breath than from lack of words, she didn't look like she _ever_ ran out of words.

"I don't think there's too much danger of you looking stupid" irritating maybe but not stupid "and anyway I'm the same, I was woefully, blissfully and surprisingly ignorant about magic until the letter came and warped the world." He grinned and waved his hand towards the window into diagonally "but it can't be anything but fun, especially wizard school, especially spells." Harry laughed.

"Were not going there to have fun, were going there to learn." The girl sounded scandalised.

"Maybe you're going there to learn. But I've always had the opinion that life's for fun, and if you can't find something to laugh at in any situation you're not trying hard enough. Anyway…" Harry swiftly moved on as the girl went through several stages of shock. "… we'll hardly be able to avoid having fun if we're doing spells all the time, making stuff fly, making stuff explode, making stuff into other stuff, the whole thing should be a blast." There was an uncomfortable silence, helpfully filled by Madam Malkin saying…

"Alright dear, you're done now." Harry stepped off the stool and went to leave, just as he reached the door he heard…

"By the way I'm Hermione Granger, What's you're name."

"Harry Potter." The seamstress gasped and stabbed her finger again, Madam Malkin looked up in surprise. "See you at Hogwarts." He walked out into the street leaving two surprised and two confused stares behind him.

Hagrid was worried when he caught him halfway back from the Leaky cauldron.

"You should'a waited in the shop." Hagrid said taking him by the shoulder. "I was about to come get you. Kids shouldn't be walking around alone." Harry was about to mention that that was exactly what he had been doing the last three years of his life when Hagrid started off towards another shop and Harry had to follow or be swallowed by the crowd.

On the round of the shops Harry met three more prospective Hogwarts students, a pair of twin girls in the apothecary's who laughed when he juggled crocodile eyes and laughed even harder when he was thrown out of the shop for doing so, and a boy called Blaise Zabini in Flourish and Blotts who didn't seem to laugh at anything and sniffed in utter disdain when Harry bought second hand books.

"There's plenty in that vault to last you know Harry." Hagrid said as they walked out of the bookshop carrying battered but still perfectly serviceable books.

"Easiest way to end up with no money is to spend it when you don't have to. Besides, these are still good." The book he was holding picked that moment to spill its first few pages onto the cobbles. Harry picked them up without speaking and set off down the street fast enough to make Hagrid jog to keep up.

* * *

Ollivanders came next and Harry thought for a moment Hagrid had taken his advice to heart. Looking at the thin premises with faded windows and peeling paintwork belied its blurb which made out that it had made _fine wand since 382 bc._

"Yes…" Thought Harry, "…in this shop. And you haven't repainted since then." But he walked in all the same and walked up to the counter as Hagrid took a seat by the door.

The inside was full of shelves, piled high with long thin boxes. It reminded Harry of a cross between an old second hand bookshop and a disused shoe store. The sliver of light from the window illuminated the motes of dust in the air, Harry blew into it and was rewarded by a swirling pattern, spotlighted in the murky room. He was just wondering if he should perhaps ring the bell when he heard a voice out of the darkness.

"Good afternoon." The voice was quiet and felt like old velvet but it came so suddenly that Hagrid jumped like a spooked rabbit and Harry just kept enough of his self-control to avoid jumping himself though his heart felt like it had leapt on its own.

"Good afternoon to you." Harry said, keeping his voice steady while thinking "sneaking up on me, huh? Don't let him see he got to you. For all he knows you heard him coming." Out of the gloom behind the desk an old, white haired and pale-eyed man stepped, cocking his head like a heron.

"Ah, Mr. Potter." The old man couldn't have seen the scar, none of the other people he'd met had through the hair. "I was sure I'd be seeing you in my shop sometime soon."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Harry leaned back from the mans eyes and said. "I'm here to buy a wand."

"Why else would you be here?" The man seemed faintly amused. He drew a tape measure out of a pocket and it sprang out of his hand, measuring Harry's arms and fingers. "Wands are what I do. I made all the wands here and I remember all of them, even the ones I've sold."

"Wouldn't some sort of card catalogue would be more efficient?" said Harry but Ollivander wasn't listening.

"It seemed only yesterday your parents were in here buying their first wands."

"Well it _would_ if you've been around since 382bc!" Getting more annoyed as the tape measure wrapped itself around his head.

"You're mother was a unicorn-hair girl, set in willow. Good wand that, I remember the day I made it. Your father liked a wand with dragon heart-string, more powerful. Well I say he liked but its really the wand that chooses the wizard." Ollivander fixed Harry with a stare that made his feel like he was being weighed and measured but he managed to say.

"Fascinating, but there's only one wand I really want to talk about. Mine. Let me chose it or let it chose me, either way seems fine."

"Very well Mr. Potter." Ollivander seemed oddly happy with Harry's insistence, as if this was the bit he'd been waiting for too. He snapped his fingers and the tape measure curled back up in the palm of his hand. "Lets try..." he ran his long fingers over a nearby shelf then nodded to himself and picked a box that was (to Harry's eyes) identical to all the others. "… Pine and Phoenix feather, short one at five inches." Harry took it and looked at it, it looked like a fat pencil. "Give it a wave." Encouraged Ollivander. Harry swished the wand and jabbed at air to no effect before Ollivander snatched it back off him.

"No, not that one. Lets go in another direction." Ollivander climbed up a ladder on the far side of the shop and dropped down another box. "Dragon-heartstring and beach. Twelve inch and thin." He called out. "Try it." Harry waved the glorified toothpick unenthusiastically before handing it back up to Ollivander who replaced it on the shelf and kicked the ladder over to another area.

More wands passed by without effect and Harry was beginning to feel worried (and a little hungry) when Ollivander passed him another wand.

"Phoenix feather and Holly Eleven inches." Ollivander handed it to him just like he had all the others but Harry thought he had seen a glimmer in the old mans spooky eyes. Harry raised it apprehensively and swished it like a whip. Nothing happened, and silence filled the small shop. Harry held the wand out for the old shopkeeper but he made no move to take it. He was staring at it like he did not quite understand.

"Try it again." Was all he said.

Harry obediently swished the wand a bit more and jabbed it in the air. It refused to do anything for him.

"Doesn't seem to work." Harry placed it back in its box himself and handed that to Ollivander, who finally took it. The poor man looked quite confused.

"Dra… Dragon-heartstring." He said after a moment, as if struggling with something. "And oak."

A few wands later and one shot ribbons of light in the air as Harry swished it.

"Andaman padunk." The wand maker said almost to himself. "and phoenix feather. Just nine inches. But this is yours!" He held up the other wand in its box. "This is the one you're supposed to have. This wand has at its core, a certain feather. The bird that gave that feather gave only one other that was made into a wand. Yes, thirteen and a half inches, yew. That wand Harry, gave you that scar." He pointed at Harry's forehead. "That wand belonged to he-who-must-not-be-named I'm sorry to say. You and… and… and he…" Ollivander lapsed into silence and Harry said.

"But that one didn't work. This one did." He liked the look of the wand he had in his hand. The wood was faintly red and the grip where he held it was a little rougher making the thing feel stable in his small hand like none of the others had. "How much for this one."

"Take it." The old man suddenly looked just that, old. He waved them out as he turned and walked into the back of his shop, without taking his eyes off the wand in his hand.

* * *

Harry left the price of the wand on the desk and left the old man to his thoughts. When they were outside Harry took the lead and a surprised Hagrid followed him. Harry stopped by a little café and sat down at a table in the corner and motioned for Hagrid to sit down too. When he did Harry said…

"Alright. Now I need to know what's going on." Hagrid nodded and sighed, mumbling something about not knowing why Dumbledore thought he was the one who should tell him, then launched into the story. People passed by them but Harry was wrapped up in the story that was, he supposed, his history. Then finally when Hagrid finished he took a deep breath and said…

"They think, that something I was or did stopped this dark lord? And the reason people are staring at me is because I'm some sort of celebrity-hero? And everyone in your world knows this? Including the people I'm going to be going to school with? And this dark wizard may still be out there somewhere? Have I got this right?"

"I'm sorry Harry." Hagrid shook his head. "There's a lot to take in on top of what you've already heard today. But you asked, and I would've had to tell you anyway seeing as you'll be going off to Hogwarts with people who know." Hagrid suddenly looked around them, some of the shops were already shut and the café owner was looking at them pointedly. "We'd better get going."

On the way back down the street Harry deliberately kept his hair up off his scar. People stared, he would have to get used to it.


	4. Roofs at Night: 3

Harry Potter and the Roofs at Night Chapter 3: The toaders

  
Hagrid spoke to the barman at the leaky cauldron before leaning down to speak to Harry.

"I've got you a room here at the cauldron." Hagrid pointed back up the stares. "I don't know what yer gonna do in the long term but for now until you go to Hogwarts you can stay here."

So that was how it came to pass that Harry slept at the leaky cauldron that night, tired from a day that had held more surprises than, well, than the rest of his life put together. Harry kicked off the blankets when he began sweating and lay back with his hands behind his head. His tired body fought his buzzing mind as it churned through the days revelations. But as the clock crept past eleven Harry's body began to win and his eyes drooped.

He dreamt of wands and wizards and rocketing carts that flew past his eyes chased by broomsticks. But most of all he kept turning and turning the story Hagrid had told him through his head just as he had when he was awake. Again and again a dark figure killed a man, then a woman then touched him on the head with his wand. Sometimes the man was Hagrid, his vast bulk blowing away like dust in a flash of light, sometimes the man looked like Harry, but older, stockier. The killer was worse, sometimes it was just a dark force, a wave. Sometimes it looked human, like a villain off TV, decked out in fangs and a cloak as it killed a woman who looked like Madam Malkin. Sometimes it had red eyes. Once, it was Harry.

Harry jerked awake and saw that it was still dark outside. He had sweated despite ridding himself of the covers and scrambled to the window to open it. Dim light filtered in from the edges of a sky not quite ready for sunrise. Harry turned and looked over his room, barely glimpsed the night before. It was panelled in oak and the furniture was all of the heavy wooden sort. The bed had a canopy around it that Harry had failed to close last night, he noted in passing that the under sheet was twisted as if the sleeper had squirmed in the night.

"Running from something" Harry decided grimly. That thought and others made him decide to forgo trying to get some more sleep before dawn and wandered over to where he'd dropped his bags by the dresser.

He idly looked through bags, sorting stuff into piles and chuckling as they brought back recollections of various episodes of the previous day, the quills the shopkeeper had tried to give him free when a waft from a fan blew back his hair, the potion ingredients Hagrid had had to go back in to get after the crocodile eye episode. When he finally had all he owned in piles in front of him he pulled over a chair and sat down in front of it, considering his dilemma. The largest pile by far, dwarfing his new robes in weight if not in size, was the books.

This really was a dilemma for Harry. Having not had cause to read anything longer than a sentence or two in three years Harry was painfully aware that those books would be seriously heavy going. Checking his ticket again (from another pile) Harry counted days and came up with thirty eight. He counted them again and came up with thirty seven. He did a little rhyme in his head to remember how many days august had and came up with thirty eight again. He wondered how much a room for more than a month had cost and whether he could carry all his books about on the streets and realised that Hagrid had probably paid in advance to stop him doing just that. The groundskeeper was surprisingly shrewd about some things.

Harry switched his attention back to the books and began wondering instead if a month would be enough. He'd be blown if he was going to this school without knowing a jot more than he knew now and looking like a raw newbie. Harry's stomach grumbled and he realised wryly that lunch had been a long time ago and although a lot had happened in the mean-time dinner hadn't been part of it. And worse he realised with a chuckle, breakfast probably wouldn't be served for hours yet.

"Wow," he thought grinning "All it takes is just a huge pile of gold and suddenly you can't miss two meals. Weakling."

Harry lay back for a moment and closed his eyes, then swung forward and pulled a book off the top of the pile. After a moment he replaced it, shuffled through till he found the one with the word beginners in the title and started on that. After a moment he put that back too and found the one that said grade-one. After a moment he leaned back and put his feet up. He had finally managed to understand the first sentence in one of his books. It was a start.

*

Harry was well into the book when he realised that light was streaming through the windows and the sounds of the city were filtering through loud and clear. Harry stood up, put the book in his bag and went off to explore Diagonally. The barkeeper watched him go but didn't try to stop him.

"Hagrid probably told him to watch me." Thought Harry as he walked out the back door, turned, walked back in and asked the barkeeper how to open the wall.

The way revealed to him, Harry stepped out onto the bustling street. Harry bought a folded-pastry thing at a cart and was surprised to discover it was pumpkin. He walked along staring in windows at the various oddities until he reached Gringots. Gaining this familiar ground Harry climbed to the top of the steps, sat down and finished his pastry where he could see everyone come and go. Eventually he got out his book and read a chapter on something called _alohomora _without taking it in before shouldering his bag again and walking back into the crowd.

Harry followed a pattern like this for the next few days, going out in the morning and soaking in the sights of Diagonally until he was sure he knew the place by heart, The standard book of spells (Grade one) by Miranda Goshawk was finished and replaced back by A beginners guide to transfiguration by Emeric Switch which was itself replace after a much longer interval (the book was longer and had none of the helpful diagrams Miranda Goshawk had added to her book) by one about Fungi.

Harry was just grinding through a particularly dull passage about moss after a long days walk when he heard a tapping on the window. A brown and cream flecked owl with long legs stood on the windowsill. The window was open but the owl just kept sitting there, cocking its head at him until Harry motioned the bird to come in. It ducked under the window frame and hopped onto the floor where it scuttled up to the desk and raised itself up to it in one flap. Careful to avoid disturbing any of Harry's stuff it walked over to him and held out a letter it had clutched in its claw. Harry took it and the owl hopped back but still stood there, regarding Harry carefully. When he looked it in the eyes it ducked its head and took another step back but didn't leave. Harry felt into his pocket and found the remains of his ham sandwich lunch which he opened and placed near the owl. The owl looked at it but seemed too nervous to take it. Shrugging, Harry opened the letter. In writing almost as bad as his own Harry read…

_Dear Harry_  
_Happy Birthday. Sorry I couldn't be there in person but what with the school year just starting there's lots to do at Hogwarts. There was a classroom on the third floor full of flesh eating slugs. Anyway I sent you your present._ (Harry checked inside the envelope and read on bewildered) _Unless you're wondering why the owls still hanging around it's because she's yours. _(Ahh, thought Harry, glancing at the nervous bird) _The cage and stuff should be coming soon too. If you want to write to me just give her a letter, she'll know where to find me. Once again Happy Birthday._

_Hagrid_

Harry folded the letter up carefully and turned to look at the owl. It really wasn't that large in the body but had long spindly legs that looked like they belonged on a wader. Harry slowly put his arm out and scratched the side of the owls head. She went stiff for a moment then relaxed and cocked her head under his scratching fingers. After a little while the owl managed to pluck up the courage to take a bit of ham off the table and swallow it whole. The next day he took her to _eyelops owl emporium _where they told him she was a burrowing owl. In light of this he named her Digger. The clerk said that that was the most unimaginative name he'd ever heard. Harry stuck his tongue out at him and left the shop.

About a week after that Harry snapped shut the cover of the last book in his pile. He put it carefully on top of the others and sat there for a while collecting his thoughts. Then he leaned forward, placed a hand firmly on the underside of the pile and turned it over. Digger hooted from her cage as Harry sat back down to read.

*

September the first bloomed bright and early but Harry was already up. His bag was stuffed to the brim with his school clothed and books and his cauldron tied on the outside and he carried Digger in her cage in one hand. Harry walked Diagonally one last time to say goodbye to the people he'd met on his walks, Greeklunk at gringots, the fruit seller he chatted to when he got bored of his books and finally to Tom the barman before walking back out into the muggle world.

Kings cross was not far away. But with an owl in a cage and a full bag even a short way can seem too far and Harry was tired when he reached it.

"Half an hour to go." Harry checked his ticket. "Easier to wait on the train than out here". He walked down the platform past platform eight, past platform nine, past platform ten, back past platform ten, stop, look left, look right.

A profanity slipped from Harry's mouth that made a passer-by grumble and frown. There was no platform nine-and-three-quarters, at least not one he could see. Harry had walked the lengths of platforms nine and ten before he saw an odd sight moving towards him. A man dressed in a black cape, attracting many stares from passers by, herded a white-blond haired child towards the platform. They were followed by a tired looking man carrying a large travelling chest and (and this was the bit Harry was looking at) a large owl in a cage. As the trio drew closer Harry heard the boy say…

"I don't see why I can't have my own broom father." Harry's suspicions were confirmed and he stepped in front of them to say…

"Hello." From the icy look in the mans eyes not a good start but he pressed on. "I couldn't help but overhear that last bit and it occurred to me that you might be the kind of people who could show me the way to platform nine-and-three-quarters." There, that was innocuous enough, if they weren't wizards they'd just think he was an idiot. The man looked him up and down slowly.

"So you know about the platform but you don't know how to get to it." The man has an arrogant drawling voice. "That says to me, muggle-born." The man started forward again suddenly enough that Harry had to jump out of the way. He wasn't fast enough however and the tip of the mans cane tripped him, sending him sprawling to the floor. He heard laughter from both the man and the boy that cut off suddenly. Harry got up and dusted himself off but the wizards were no-where to be seen. Cursing himself Harry looked at the time, barely five minutes left. Harry was just wondering if there was a second train he could take when…

"Jack!" Harry was thumped on the shoulder and spun around to look into the freckled face of one of the twins from the leaky cauldron the first time he had passed through there. They were followed by an older teenager, possibly even more freckled than them and a younger one bringing up the rear. Behind them was a plump woman, angry at being left in charge of a whole flotilla of baggage trolleys while her sons ran off and a little girl hanging on to her hand.

"This is the guy we told you about." Said the twin to his left as his brothers caught up.

"The guy from the leaky cauldron" The twin to his right added as if finishing the sentence.

"The guy who isn't Harry Potter" Added lefty.

"Lots of people aren't Harry Potter." Said Harry with a smile. "It's hardly an accolade." ("Now how the hell am I gon'a be able to tell them the truth." Thought Harry.)

"Stop bothering him dears, and take you're carts back." The mother had joined them and was pushing them towards the platforms. "We haven't got time for dawdling." Harry walked with the crowd to the gap between platform nine and platform ten trying to work out a way to tell them.

"You know, about the whole Harry Potter thing." Harry said but was silenced as the oldest brother took his cart and walked straight through the wall. Harry's shock must have came through on his face because the Mother said.

"First time to Hogwarts dear?"

"Either that or I've gone mad and I just haven't realised it yet." This explanation was becoming more and more appealing to Harry's mind but the woman just laughed.

"Oh, its all right Dear, its Ron's first time too." She pointed to the youngest son who shrugged and smiled. "All you have to do, is run at the barrier and don't stop. Don't worry that you'll crash into it, or you will. You see?"

"Run at the wall." Harry said flatly as the twins disappeared as well. "Alright. Thanks for you're help." Harry added more warmly. "But if I end up breaking my skull I'm blaming you." Harry turned to the barrier and broke into a run. He wanted to close his eyes but kept them resolutely open. The wall came closer. A sudden moment of panic hit Harry and he squeezed his eyes shut and shielded his head with his hands.

There was a moment of quiet pressure then Harry opened his eyes and walked out to gaze at the red steam engine, sat next to the sign for platform nine-and-three-quarters. He heard a weird shlooping sound behind him and saw Ron standing there checking himself to see whether he was alright and looking back towards the barrier.

"Skull still whole?" Harry asked him and got a grin in return. Harry wandered down the platform and got in a seemingly empty carriage. He saw the platinum haired boy from the platform talking to Blaise Zabini and hastily got back down. The next few carriages he checked were occupied by people already talking and chatting and showing each other pictures. Harry reached the end of the train and was on his way back when he spotted the boy, Ron, walking along in front of him checking each compartment. Harry walked up and moved into step with him.

"I think everywhere's taken " Harry said as they checked another compartment only to find a group of seventh years in serious discussion over a newspaper. Harry hefted his bag higher onto his shoulder and held the door to the next compartment open for Ron and his huge trunk.

"You're not bringing much stuff." Said Ron looking between his huge trunk and Harry loaded backpack. "I thought everyone was bringing a trunk."

"I like to travel light." Harry said, they leaned against the wall for a moment as a gaggle of older students passed. "Makes it easier to run from trouble. Besides, I don't have enough stuff to fill one o' those things." Harry nodded towards the trunk.

"I'm Ron." The boy extended a hand, which Harry took. "Ron Weasley. What's your last name Jack?"

"Well, see the thing about that is." No welcome distractions here. "My names not actually Jack." Seeing Ron's perplexed face he continued. "You heard how your brothers met me right." (nod). "How people thought I was Harry Potter and turned and looked at me?" (nod). "Well, try and see it from my perspective, you're suddenly in a new place with lots of people staring at you." (silent stare). "What would you have told them?" He lapsed into silence as Ron stared at him for a moment.

"So what you're saying is… that you really are Harry Potter?" Ron laughed and told him it was a good joke, he laughed right up until Harry pushed his fringe up and showed Ron the scar on his forehead. Rons eyes widened like lamps and his laughter caught in his throat and got turned into a fit of coughing that Harry had to slap him on the back to get him out off. "You really are him?"

"'Fraid so friend." Harry smiled "Sorry for tricking you."

"So, do you remember, you know, IT." Ron leaned forward conspiratorially.

"What?" Harry said, leaning forward and putting on a mock surreptitious accent.

"You know, when…that…" Ron pointed at Harry's scar and Harry understood.

"I remember being hurt. Nothing else really." They walked on in silence for a while.

"Fred and George are gona go crazy." Ron shook his head slowly while grinning.

"You're brothers?"

"Yeah," Suddenly a thought seemed to strike Ron. "Oh, let me tell them! The look on their faces…"

"Knock yourself out, only don't, really. Once had a friend who did that, lost part of his memory and forgot six." Harry launched into one of his farcical and totally fictional stories.

"Forgot six? Six what?"

"The number six, he used to count up like… four, five, seven. If you told him he'd missed out a number he looked at you like you were mental."

"You're having me on aren't you." Ron looked at him sideways and folded his arms.

"Course not. Believe me. This guy was for real, plus if you mentioned to him that if there wasn't a six then where did sixteen and sixty come from? He'd get a headache and have to go sit down. Was awful at keeping appointments too, on account of missing Saturday. Even worse he was scared of dice. Seemed to think they should be made triangular." Harry launched further into the story, dreaming up more wildly unlikely circumstances when he glanced into a nearby compartment and saw familiar faces.

"Ah," Harry said "I think I see some seats we can steal."

*

He opened the door and looked in on the twin girls (I'm meeting a lot of twins) he'd met in diagonally's apothecary. "Hi." Harry said by way of introduction, "mind if we sit down here? I could juggle again by way of payment?" The girls giggled and Harry moved into the compartment and helped Ron put his huge trunk in the overhead compartment. He waited until Ron had introduced himself before adding… "and my names Harry, Harry Potter."

"Are you? You didn't say anything when we met before." One of the twins accused.

"There wasn't time, what with the being thrown out of the shop and all. Don't worry about that this time, I plan to stay at Hogwarts at least a few days before getting thrown." The twins laughed, that was how to do it. Tell a joke just after you say your name 'cos you can't gasp and laugh at the same time. "And anyway, you didn't tell me your names either."

"Well I'm Padma, and this is Parvati Patil." Said Padma before her sister added "Do you have the scar?" Harry obligingly lifted his hair and let it fall back. "Wow." The twins looked at one another then broke out into giggles. But Parvati added through the laughs, "I expected you to be taller though." Harry looked around and realised he was the shortest person in a fifty percent girl room then shrugged.

"It's an optical illusion." he said with a grin, "I'm really a giant."

"Nah," said Ron "If you were you wouldn't fit in the train. And you'd be a whole lot uglier!"

"Thanks." Harry said flatly while wondering whether he was serious (dragons, so why not giants?). Before he could say anything else the compartment door slid open to show a witch pushing a trolley full of food.

"Would you like anything off the trolley dears?" She asked. A momentary-flash-fire three way battle raged in Harry between hunger, thrift and a need to impress but the matter was decided by a set of creamy orange cakes sitting on one side of the trolley. On seeing them, thrift waved a little white flag.

"Two of those please." Harry said, pointing at the cakes. Ron mumbled that he had brought sandwiches but the twins seemed to have worked out all the stuff they were getting in advance and amassed a small pile of their favourites in front of them. As the trolley moved away Harry held up one of his cakes and said. "Now, can anyone tell me what the hell I just bought?"

"You don't know?" Ron said disbelieving "They're cauldron cakes." Harry bit a little off one of them and smiled as the creamy filling hit his tongue.

"Wizards get nice food." Harry said leaning back and taking another bite.

"What do you mean?" said Parvati.

"Why wouldn't you have eaten wizard food." Added Padma.

"I didn't grow up with wizards, or witches or dragons or giants." Harry gestured widely at the surrounding area. "Welcome to my journey of constant revelation. I'm just waiting for the aliens to jump out with Elvis and all will be complete." He stopped and waited on their confused stares.

"I wondered why you couldn't get onto the platform." Ron said after a moment. "Once I found out who you were of course. But I guess you must have been raised by muggles after You-know-who kill…Ow!" Parvati had kicked Ron hard in the shin and was making shushing noises while her sister stared disapprovingly at the ginger child. Harry just laughed.

"Don't lame Ron on my account." Harry took another bite out of his cake before saying "My parents died a long time ago. Beyond my memory of events, so it doesn't matter if you talk about them."

"Who took care of you?" Ron asked while rubbing his smarting leg. "I didn't see anyone at the station with you."

"Who took care of me?" Harry paused a little too long before answering. "Well, myself I guess. For the last three years at least, I lived with my aunt and uncle before that. Well, I say lived with, _survived_ is probably the better term. That's why I left." Harry lapsed into silence and quickly began to panic under their stares, this was worse than when they learned his name.

"So, you lived alone?" Parvati broke the quiet. "Without a family?"

"Without a home?" Padma added onto the end of her sisters question. Ron just sat there looking dumbstruck.

"Yes without a family, yes without a home." Harry's heart began to speed and he could feel the sweat from their stares. He fumbled in his pocket and brought out two juggling balls and began to bounce them in one hand, he could feel the stress ebbing, relaxing, growing smaller but still sitting there, in the back of his mind, weighing it down. It had been quiet too long, make them talk again. "Neat story yeah?" Harry said pocketing the balls. "Anyway its not as bad as you think, I think I had a little help after I left my aunt and uncle's."

"What do you mean?" Ron leaned forward, his mouth full of sandwich.

"We'll, its something I worked out since I found out." It had taken him a while to realise it, his mind soaking into the old books he was reading, the comprehension had come to him slowly, as more and more pieces fell together. "You know unintentional magic…"

"The kind muggle-born-wizard children use when they don't realise it." Parvati said, then gasped. "You've been using it already, that's how you survived homeless as a kid!"

"Yep," Harry smiled happily. "I used to think I was lucky, _born_ lucky, you know? Any time I was really in trouble like, like with the police ("police?!" gasped Ron, The twins eyes went wide with shock.) something always happened. Like a gate I'd just ran through locked and barred itself behind me, or a water main bursting right under a cop-car."

"Were they hurt?" Ron looked aghast.

"Nah, just broke the car. Still, none of those were as good as this one time." Harry motioned for the others to lean in and they obliged, now wrapped up in his story. "I was being chased by this gang o' drunken guys right? Chasing me over some small matter of little importance that was blown far, far out of proportion."

"What did you do?" Padma said flatly.

"I said their mothers must have been sheep and for _no_ reason they took it as an insult." Harry shook his head ruefully " Some people have no sense of humour, they took it totally out of context. Anyway, normally I have no trouble outdistancing drink soaked yobs but in this case I was in a part of town I hadn't been in before and I found myself in the untenable position of facing a dead end with six of the idiots tearing down on me."

"Did you turn them into something?" Parvati leaned forward eagerly.

"Not quite." Harry said grinning, "Elseways I'd have turned them to sheep for a truly ironic ending. But instead as they ran at me they all suddenly fell over at the same time."

"Oh, you just knocked them down." Padma sounded disappointed. "That's not very interesting."

"Not knocked down, slid over." Harry's eyes twinkled. "I wasn't sure at the time but I think I turned their shoes to ice. Have you ever seen six drunk guys hangin' off each other 'cos they couldn't stand up. Any time they tried to stand up they just fell flat on their faces again." Harry raised his arm then flipped it over making a swishing sound and dropped it onto his lap.

"Of course, if they'd just had the smarts to take their shoes off I'd have been a goner, but with a little help from the alcohol they'd drunk that didn't occur and I was safe to slip away." Harry laughed and after a moment his friends laughed too. Harry could remember that night clearly, he hadn't laughed then. He'd cried and ran and shivered through his coat. He hadn't slept that night either, he hadn't felt safe too but instead had just ran and ran until his legs gave out and he crawled into a patch of shadows and to lie there trembling. Laughter was easy after but he would never forget the fear.

"That's nothing." Ron said, clearly trying to top Harry. "One time when I was out on my broom…" He got no further into his story as the door slid open to reveal a nervous looking kid with a chubby face and watery eyes.

"Has anyone seen a toad." The boy sniffed loudly. "I've lost mine. He's called Trevor."

"No, I haven't." Harry looked over Ron, Parvati and Padma to see a chorus of shaking heads. "No, he hasn't been in here… But." Harry added as the boys eyes started to well up again. "I could help you look if you like." Parvati was quick to add that she'd help too. Padma sighed but repeated what her sister said. Ron said nothing and rolled his eyes.

But the Weasley was outnumbered and so The pack started off down the corridor, Harry idly juggling and starting another of his staple tales, Padma and Parvati listening intently, Neville (the toadless wonder) had stopped crying and was even smiling at the story and Ron bringing up the rear, trying to pretend this wasn't better than sitting in a cabin.

*

Everything was going so well (no they had not actually found the toad but they had met lots of interesting people and one interesting giant spider.) when Harry saw someone coming down the corridor and grimaced. His little group of toad-hunters stopped dead as the platinum haired kid from the station walked towards them flanked by two robust students. ("well, I say robust." Thought Harry. "It's really just fat. A ton o' fat and about ten stone o' ugly to season.").

"Oh," said the boy in a drawling, bored voice. "Its you, the mudblood from the station." Harry heard Ron gasp and Parvati yell "What did you say?!".

"So you finally found you're way onto the platform." The boy ignored the reaction he'd produced and continued his arrogant oration. "Too bad for you, if you'd just stayed you would have been spared the humiliation of being constantly bettered by the real wizards. My father always says muggle-borns shouldn't be allowed to attend with us pure blooded wizards."

"You haven't seen a toad have you?" Harry asked brightly.

"What?" Said the boy. And was echoed by Ron and Neville.

"A toad." Harry kept smiling. "You know, small, green, frog-like thing, answers to the name of Trevor."

"_No I have not seen a toad_." Said the boy acidly.

"Sorry but you just seemed like the kind of guy who would know where to find green, slimy, disgusting reptiles." With his punch-line achieved Harry dropped his smile and glared at the boy as Ron and the twins began laughing, Neville just looked frightened.

"Who do you think you're talking to." Said the boy, ignoring the fact that people in nearby cabins had opened their doors to listen. "I am Draco Malfoy, my father is Lucius Malfoy, you'd best not make enemies you can't deal with mudblood." Once again the word produced a reaction, even from the people in the cabins. Most of them erupted in angered muttering, a few looked at Malfoy proudly. "Anyway, I don't see why I'm wasting time with the likes of you. There's a rumour that Harry Potter is on the train." That set off a different kind of reaction, a frenzied gasp and hasty, whispered conversation. "And I'm trying to find him before he falls in with riffraff like you."

"Unless he's a toad I doubt you'll find him." Harry said smiling. "Oh and also, I'm not muggle-born, you're _esteemed_ father just assumed that."

"But I suppose you must be a mudblood lover."

"Oh yeah, I think their great. I have no idea what they are but since you seem to hate them so much and gods truth, the more I see of you the more I seem to hate your guts I can be sure I'll love 'em to bits. Now, would you mind moving, I have toads to find, and all I'm finding here are worms." Harry pointed straight at Malfoy and then to the side of the carriage. Malfoy remained stock still. The carriage had gone deadly quiet.

"Who do you think you are?" Draco said with undisguised scorn.

"Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." Draco's eyes went wide and the compartments once more began whispering. "This is Ron Weasly and Neville Longbottom, and Padma and Parvati Patil." Harry advanced on the blond haired kid before him and waved his hand at the giant bodyguards. "Now, aren't you going to introduce me to you're friends…pets…companions. Interesting how you managed to fit two hippos into uniforms, you would have thought the tails would get in the way." Then Harry noticed the master stroke, a small green lump near Malfoys boot. He stooped, swiped it up and held it for all to see.

"Trevor!" Cried Neville happily.

"Look at this guys, it's even better than I thought. Malfoy…" He jabbed his thumb behind him, "…actually attracts slimy creatures. He doesn't need to seek them out, they come to him! I wonder why that is? I think…" Harry went on in a stage whisper "… that it might be the _smell_." He just had time to see the laughter erupt before something hit him in the back of the head.

*

Harry went down hard and felt a weight land on top of him. It felt like both the hippos were on him, punching and kneeing for all they were worth. Harry kicked up and when one flinched back he rolled out from under and turned his roll into a jump to his feet. He saw one of the kids trying to rise and pushed him back down on top of his friend. At that moment he felt hot sparks singe his neck and smelled burnt hair and turned to see Malfoy standing there with wand drawn, the last faint glow just fading from the tip. Harry looked around and saw that no one had moved. The thing had happened in moments. Then suddenly one of the Onlookers glanced down the carriage, yelled

"PREFECTS!" and suddenly everyone jumped back into their cabins. Harry felt two sets of hands grab him by the shoulders and pull him in with someone. He turned to see the grinning faces of the Weasly twins and the toad hunting gang.

"That." Said Ron "Was bloody brilliant." As if that loosened everybody's tongue they all began talking at once. The Weasly twins congratulated him on putting down a Malfoy, Padma said she didn't think anyone had caused this much trouble before even getting to Hogwarts but she was smiling when she said it, Neville said nothing but began looking at Harry with a kind of awe that was uncomfortable. Recounting the fight and the taunting that prompted it kept them laughing until Parvati glanced out the window and said

"Ooo, we're here." As if on cue the train started slowing. Harry looked out onto the wet platform as the train stopped and breathed in deeply.

"Almost there…" He thought. "…everything's beginning."

*

Harry's hand drifted through the water, forgotten, as he stared out from the boat he, Ron and the twins had shared. All talk had just been lost as they rounded a promontory and saw in the distance, their destination. Hogwarts, it sprawled over the land on one side of the lake, a vast keep or castle with tall, needle towers and giant halls. Every window glowed from within and shone beams of light out like searchlights. Harry had never seen anything like it. He wondered for a moment whether that was because it was magic, certainly some of the towers looked like they couldn't be supported by just stone and mortar.

Harry stood up in the boat and watched the castle for as long as he could before they came too close to the cliff to see it. And as Hagrid led the boats in through a cave Harry turned and sat down.

"This will be unbelievable." Harry said quietly, smiling.

"Wait till you get inside." Ron grinned, "Fred and George told me everything about it. Apparently the stairs move and there's secret passages everywhere." Harry made a mental note to find all of them. "And there's creatures in the dungeons that the teachers don't know about, and there a room full of treasure in one of the walls. Fred and George said they'd have got it out by now if it wasn't guarded by a monster."

"That's a bunch of pig poo." Parvati scoffed (Harry chuckled at the absurdly mild profanity) as they stepped out of the boat onto a landing. "My friend's in her third year and she once told me Fred and George Weasly were the biggest jokers and the biggest liars in the whole school." Ron bristled and was about to retort when Harry said

"From what I've seen of you're brothers Ron, they'd take that as a complement." Ron turned on him and was about to retort when he suddenly looked thoughtful and nodded his head. Harry suddenly grinned and spread his arms above his head. Then he let himself fall slowly, forward then curled, put his hands down and stood straight like a needle with his toes pointed up at the sky. "But I don't think they'll take this so easy…" Harry pushed up and landed back on his feet to meet astonished stares, "…if they do hold the prankster crown they'd better enjoy it while they can 'cos I'm on the scene now." Harry put his hands on his hips and licked his front teethh. "And they ain't seen nothing yet."

*

It was a moment before anyone spoke up but Harry saw their expressions. Ron's looked shocked beyond words and had his mouth open, Padma was looking at him like he was joking in some way but her sister was smiling and nodding with a gleam in her eyes that said she was planning to try for a bit of mayhem herself. But it was secret option four who reacted first.

"You're already planning to break school rules and you're not even past the sorting yet." Harry turned, praying he was wrong about recognising the voice. "I have half a mind to tell the headmaster about you right now." Prayers unanswered. The voice came from the bushy haired girl from diagonally who was standing with her hands on her hips facing them as the other first years filed past down the corridor.

"Herm…ione, right?" Harry said smiling for all he could.

"You should all keep away from him." The girl ignored Harry and addressed the other toad hunters. "You could all get into huge trouble." With that the girl turned and marched off after the first years. Meanwhile Harry turned back to the others.

"So, you've heard my idea and you've heard the opposition." He jabbed his hand at Hermione's back. "Who's with me?" Grins answered him, even (eventually) from Neville. "Right then, I'm happy you guys are behind me. Now lets get going. If were late we'll never even get put into the school to get thrown out!" They hurried after the others. Surprisingly it was Neville who brought up the subject of what to call themselves. Some ideas (Not all of them good) were bandied about. Ron seemed to be set on putting the word _cannons_ in the name for some reason but was silenced when Padma sarcastically said

"Oh, so we don't we want to be named after a winning team?" That could have come to blows without Harry's mood- lightening abilities. Even after a lot of other options (some very cool, Harry held out for the name _the toaders_ for a long time, Neville had suggested it but it did describe them up to now) one name seemed to stick and, even when other options came up they still found themselves using that one (except for comic effect, when Harry still used _the toaders_.) . It felt right somehow, like they had already been using it and just hadn't known it.

"After all..." Said Ron "My brothers could count as the old ones, and we're out to supplant them, so were the new ones!" Harry didn't think that was the reason somehow, but the name itself fit like a glove.

So, as Harry Potter, Ron Weasly, Neville Longbottom and Padma and Parvati Patil walked into the waiting hall by the great hall and the last of the sunset-sunlight streamed in through the window the _New Marauders_ were born.

*

They stepped into the great hall in a row and giggled when they gasped in tandem. The sight was awe inspiring, the vast tables of students staring and pointing, lighted by hundreds of floating candles and even better, Harry's eyes travelled upwards and he smiled in rapturous wonder. The night sky greeted him above, every star bright and clear like a back-lit diamond. Like gold dust. Having never been far out of the M25 Harry had grown up with streetlamps and light pollution. The stars were gifts, just one more thing he wanted to thank this place for.

He quietened as an older witch carried an old hat out to the stage and set it down on a stool. She straightened and delivered her instructions in a crisp, efficient voice and the hall instantly became silent. Harry thought he saw the hat move then turned back to the witch. But no! it had moved, and now it split down a ridge and opened like a mouth to say…

_Lasting thousands years and more  
By the illustrious Hogwarts four  
The houses of renown_

Each one of honour true and grand  
And at their birth you understand  
My job was then set down

I was put here to sort you jokes  
You sorry, snotty, shorty, folks  
To one of them today

To Griffindor  
The lions roar  
The brave and bold dwell there

To Ravenclaw  
Where there it's more  
The mind that holds the chair

To Hufflepuff  
Of sterner stuff  
The loyal and the just

Or Slytherin  
The wits to win  
Where cunning is a must

These four alone await you here  
And I can chose,  
just volunteer  
Nothing to fear  
Just lend an ear  
I'm quite sincere  
Can't wait to see them jump and cheer!

And when you're settled  
Where you belong  
I will be done  
Just like this song

"Funny yeah!" Ron leaned over to Harry.

"Not really." Harry had taken the _shorty folks_ comment a bit personally. He was also deeply worried that, of all the descriptions mentioned in the song, cunning described him better than wise or steadfast and definitely better than brave. When Harry looked over to the Slytherin table he recognised some of the people who had cheered Malfoy on the train.

His extra investigation before arriving had also turned up the Slytherin name, frequently associated with the dark and evil. And the hat's description had matched him. Harry felt suddenly very cold and small and he felt like a dark cloud had touched him. He shivered and told himself it was his imagination.

He could swear he felt eyes on the back of his head but when he turned around the only person there was a thin, nervous looking wizard in a turban chatting to a lank-haired and sallow-faced professor. The lank-haired teachers eyes flicked to his face, then to his forehead and Harry turned back quickly. Just in time to hear the first name called out.

*

Harry stood, his heart beating fast in his chest and his lungs feeling like weights had been hooked to them. One by one the people around him sat down to be sorted, he blessed the fact that he wasn't called Brown or Abbot, he couldn't have taken being the first to the stand.

Each person chosen prompted a new batch of cheering from the house they were chosen for. Harry had the insane urge to get out his juggling balls just to relived his stress but knew he couldn't, not under all those eyes. A moment later he recognised Hermione walking up to the chair and sitting, jamming on the singing hat, a few moments later and the hat pronounced her a Gryffindor and she ran down to the table. The next person he recognised was Neville, he tried to shut away all his nerves and give Neville an encouraging wave as he walked past, ashen faced. After what must have been minutes the hat sent Neville to Gryffindor too and the relief on his face was clearly visible.

Malfoy went to Slytherin and Harrys gut seemed to cease up tighter. They were on to the P's now and Harry was sure his face must be showing his thought despite his efforts. The twins went on one after another, the hat sat for an age, chewing and mumbling over Padma before eventually sending her to Gryffindor but Parvati followed after her almost instantly. One more name then…

"Harry Potter!"

"Alright." Thought Harry "If there was ever a time you needed to keep you're cool. This is that time." He made himself swagger a little as he walked over to the chair through the whispering and stares then forced himself to grin as he dropped the hat on his head. The dark was welcome as the hat slid over his eyes but then…

"_Hm… Another tricky one_." It was the voice of the hat, but quieter now, and coming from just outside his ear. "_Good mind but underused, loyal soul but no present loyalties, and with your fears…_"

"Hey!" Thought Harry, for a moment more angry than scared. "Who the hell said you could look around in my brain anyway! That stuffs bloody private!" The hat seemed amused.

"_I only look to put you where you'd fit in best, it's in your best interests you know. To go with people who understand you, whose minds are like your own, full of cunning ways, hidden paths, other ways to get what you want. I can send you where you'll fit in, where you'll find friends, in the house of Salazar Sl..._" But Harry cut him off.

"That's enough! I will not let myself be placed in a house of dark wizards and disgusting people!" Harry thought angrily. "I don't see what gives you the right to chose either. I chose my path! Always! If you looked a little further in my brain you'd see the right o' that! I chose to leave home! I chose to come here! No parent! no guide! I made my own way here, ME! Its my life and I want to go to Gry..."

"_GRYFFINDOR_!" The hat yelled triumphantly in the middle of his sentence and Harry was dumbstruck for a moment before grinning and rolling his eyes.

"Cheap trick." He said to the hat, before placing it down and walking towards the cheering red and gold table.

*

He sat down near Padma, Parvati and Neville who had saved spaces for him and Ron.

"That's a bit of a relief." If he had been being honest Harry would have said he felt like he was walking on air. "I don't know anyone in the other houses." A few moments later Ron was put with them as well and dropped down in the remaining seat, looking as relived as Harry felt and said.

"Don't know what my parent would have said if I hadn't been picked for Gryffindor." Harry was about to say something comfortingly-funny when the hall went quiet. Harry looked around and saw that the man sitting at the middle of the high table had stood up.

He looked very old but he stood without a stoop and had straightened smoothly. His hair and beard were snowy white and tied into two tails, one down the front, one down the back. As he surveyed the hall, Harry could have sworn the mans eyes fixed on him for a split second before moving on.

"Who the Hell's he." Asked Harry.

"Albus Dumbledore stupid!" Hissed Parvati. "The Headmaster."

"One piece of advice comes to me at this time." The old mans voice sounded faintly amused, like he knew something funny that everyone else didn't. "Hungry children listen only to their grumbling stomachs. With that in mind, tuck in!" Harry saw the plates in front of him fill with everything imaginable. Plates of meat and potatoes piled high, and pitchers full of juices and milk. Harry looked so long he didn't click that everyone else had started.

"Not hungry?" Ron asked through a mouthful that said clearly that he was. Harry shook himself and started fishing things off the plates for himself. He was almost disappointed when the deserts appeared and was definitely disappointed when they went though he couldn't have eaten another bite. He was sitting in a happy, sleepy, full and contended haze when he saw the headmaster rise to his feet again.

"I have a few announcements to make. Firstly, that first years are reminded that they are not allowed their own brooms, that first and second years are forbidden to enter Hogsmead village, that all students are forbidden to enter the forbidden forest and that anyone with any sense of self preservation should avoid the third floor corridor on the right hand side. Thank you."

"Third floor corridor?" Said Ron. "Hey George! Fred!" He yelled down the table at his brothers. "What's on this third floor corridor?"

"Nothing the last time we looked." Said Fred. "Why?"

"Is little Ron scared?" Added his brother laughing. Ron turned back sullenly.

"What do you think?" Harry asked the group as a whole.

"If there was anything there last year they'd know about it." Ron said crossing his arms and directing a dark look back along the table. "So whatever it is it must have only just happened."

"Their hiding something." Said Parvati confidently. "There's something powerful they're researching and they want to keep it secret, there's no danger."

"Dumbledore said people who go up there could die. You saying that's not dangerous?" Ron asked.

"Well of course if Dumbledore says it then it _must_ be true. He couldn't possibly he lying or exaggerating to make sure nobody goes up there." Padma raised an eyebrow at Ron. "That would just be silly."

"But wait!" Neville had just caught up with the conversation. "You're all talking like we're actually going up there!"

"Oh we're going." Harry took a sip of juice before going on. "There was never any question of going or not. As soon as it became forbidden it became our first target."

*

But there was little chance for Harry to carry through on his promises for the first few days, lesson followed lesson and Harry found himself challenged to keep up. Everything in the books he'd read seemed to constitute about one one-hundredth of what they needed to know and each new concept sent him out from the lesson scratching his head back to the books and then to the new ones he'd got out of the library.

The only reason he wasn't totally swamped was that after every day he could return to the Gryffindor common room and sit down on the table that had already been designated, even by older students, the Marauders table. On his second day Harry had simply invaded this table and pulled four other chairs around it, plopped his bag down and waited. By day four it was established and the places reserved.

It was near enough to the fire to be warmed by it and was constantly piled with their books and bags, whatever sweets they had each donated to the pot, a wizard chess set in permanent disarray, at least one copy of _Witch Weekly_ and ,more often than not, Trevor. And under the pile, between the pages of the books or hidden in sweet wrappers there were maps, details, reports and ideas.

The five of them would work on the days onerous homework till the common room began to empty, then the books would close and the work would begin in earnest. It had moved beyond the third floor corridor of course, there were plans to get into filches office, McGonagall's office, each of the other common rooms, plans to curse people (99% of those people being Slytherins and 80% of _them_ being Malfoy) and plans to find all the secret passages of the school.

Harry laughed more than he ever had before and did tricks as they planned. Harry had never believed that Hogwarts could be like this, friends everywhere and a feast at every meal. Even the lessons couldn't put a dent in this. Then, on Friday, Harry awoke from sleep after a particularly good planning session and went downstairs to breakfast. If Harry had had a single prophetic bone in his body he would have shivered when looking at his days timetable.

"Oh," He said brightly. "Potions today."

*

"Potion making is as… beautiful a science as it exact. As deadly as it is complex and as hard to learn as it is rewarding to those who have the talent, and the predisposition to do so."

Harry and Padma looked at each other sideways and each saw the other barely stifling giggles.

"For those lucky enough to be able to excel in my subject." The hook nosed, sallow faced professor continued. "It will reap them rewards far beyond any puerile charm or spell. What spell can fill the blood with fire, can kill silent as a mouse, can fan life back into what other spells would deem a corpse, can send someone into so deep a sleep they will never awake."

"I don't know any spells for the last one but his voice is doing a pretty good job so far." Padma whispered and Harry had to bite his upper lip to keep the sounds in. They had been set at a desk thankfully near the back of the class and could look clear across the whole class to where the teacher, one Severus Snape, stalked in front of the blackboard. The reason they were laughing so hard was that, before the lesson, Ron's brothers had treated them to an impression of Snape which, at the time, they had thought was an exaggeration.

"But _most_ of you will not have that skill and will doubtless find yourself confused… baffled… and, if prior disasters are any indication, severely burnt in this classroom. If that is the case then I ask that you don't hesitate to come to me for help." ("WHAT?" Harry's dumbfounded expression was mirrored on every face in the class) "And I will tell you what I tell all the other students stupid enough to come to me. _'I don't CARE.'_" The teacher waved his wand at the board and some instructions appeared there.

Later in the lesson, when Snape was making his rounds around the desks staring at everyone's cauldrons and making derogatory comments to everyone not in green trimmed robes, Harry made a point of looking Snape directly in the eyes as he passed by and smiling from ear to ear.

"Something _funny_ Potter." Heads turned to watch. "You see something you find amusing?"

"I don't think you'd get the joke Professor, it's a youth thing." Harry said sagely. "Generation gap and all. But…" Harry added. "I'll be sure to came to you if I ever feel baffled… or burnt."

"A state of affairs I foresee happening frequently. Lets see if we can speed things up a little. Tell me…" Snape's back snapped straight like a willow twig and he looked down at Harry. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"Draft of living death." Harry's prior-reading-parachute deployed on cue to save him. "A sleeping potion."

"Incorrect." Snape glowered.

"Excuse me." The annoying twist to the words… the self-important accent… Hermione sat at the next table over and was turned towards Harry and Snape. "The answer is the Draft of living death. A sleeping potion powerful en…"

"Five points from Gryffindor Miss Granger." Snape said without turning. "The correct answer Potter... Was 'draft of living death _sir'_. Another ten points from Gryffindor." Snape swept off leaving Harry glowering at his back.

"That wasn't fair." Said Ron, turning from the table in front that he shared with Neville. "He can't take points if you get the right answer."

"Well you were a bit cheeky to leave off the Sir." Hermione said primly and folded her arms. Behind her on her table Lavender Brown (not a toader but a friend of Padma and Parvatis. Harry had promised to teach her to juggle once and was now trying to find a way to wiggle out of it) rolled her eyes. "But it shouldn't have been ten points, maybe five."

"Harry do you remember which of us it was that asked her opinion?" Ron said glibly.

"Can't recall Ron. Why would one of us do something like that?" Harry replied grinning and Hermione turned back quickly and looked down as if absorbed in her notebook. Ron did a silent laugh and turned back to his desk but Harry leaned back and bit his lip thoughtfully. He'd just insulted, without provocation, someone who had stood up for him. He tried to think of something funny to say that would make Hermione laugh and realised he didn't know anything she'd like. A moment later Snape swooped back past and the chance for talk was over.

While failing to make his potion Harry thought carefully, Hermione didn't go around with anyone, she didn't sit with the same people in any two classes, he'd never seen her talking in the common room with anyone. In fact, the only times he'd seen her out of classes was when he took books out of the library, then she was always there, with her head deep in progressively thicker books.

"That doesn't mean she doesn't have friends." Thought Harry while crushing porcupine quills. "She could know people in other years from before she came here."

"She's muggle-born." Another part of his brain said "How would she already have friends at a wizard school."

"Oh…" Harry looked over at Hermione and Lavender, only talking to reference the instructions on the board and at other times Hermione was craned over her book and Lavender over hers.

"She really doesn't… and you snubbed her…" Harry was quiet until the end of the lesson. He didn't want to talk. When you find out something you don't much like about yourself the last thing you want to do is talk about it.

*

Harry tried to talk to Hermione several times over the next few weeks but she always just ignored him or ran off. Worse, Padma and Parvati had told him she had taken to crying in the girls toilets during breaks and after lessons.

"Maybe you could do something." Harry pointed out during a late September evening after a particularly successful prank of some fifth year Slytherins "You sleep in the same bloody room. Surely you talk to her."

"She doesn't talk to us." Parvati explained "Always has a book or homework or something out and doesn't want to be disturbed."

"She's alright if you ask her about homework of ask help with something." Padma carried on. "But for anything else she just doesn't want to know."

"Why do you care anyway?" Ron asked him pointedly. "If she wanted people to like her she wouldn't be so stuck up. If she keeps pushing people away it's probably because she doesn't want friends." Parvati and Padma nodded sadly but Neville (quiet on the sidelines as always) gave a small shake of his head. Loneliness was easier to understand from experience than from observation.

"No reason really, it's just we've got to live with the rest of our year for the next seven years and that'll be easier if were at least on speakin' terms with them." The others seemed to accept this partial explanation. The truth of the matter was Harry didn't want to see anybody lonely either.

*

Harry decided to try a more direct approach. The next day, after lessons but before dinner, Harry went down to the library and approached the now familiar sight of a pile of books and Hermione. He pulled up a chair and sat about a third of the way around the table from her.

"Looks like you beat me here." Harry said without provoking a reaction. "Last copy." He added, pointing to a random book near her elbow. Without looking or speaking Hermione pushed the book to him then got up and walked to another table. Harry sighed and followed her.

"Look, you can't keep going like this forever. Humans need to talk to other humans or they go crazy." Harry twirled a finger near his ear and let his eyes go crossed. "Anyway don't you…"

"No I don't!" Hermione slammed the book shut and looked at him angrily. He saw red around her eyes. "And if you don't mind I'm doing a special project for professor Flitwick and it's in tomorrow. _Some_ people care about school." And with that she darted to yet a third table and sat with her back to him. After a moment he saw her shoulders begin to shake with sobs.

Harry stood there for a moment feeling worthless then turned and walked out of the library. But that wasn't the last he'd see of Hermione that day, a little later when Harry was on a fact-finding mission ("I swear Fitch keeps a spare key in one of the janitors closets." Ron had said. Harry had agreed to look into it without realising how very many janitors closets there were and what unpleasant smells inhabited them) he passed a doorway to an disused classroom and heard voices inside.

"Give it back!" Hermione's voice? "You arrogant snake! Give it back!"

"Oh? And why exactly should I?" Hermione and Malfoy? Harry's hand moved toward the door-handle. "I just want to have a read." The handle turned but the door didn't open. Harry groaned as he realised this was one of the weird doors. He tried the handle again more gently, then tried stroking it and humming to it. Inside the conversation had become more heated.

"Give it back you foul, loathsome thing!"

"Crabbe, Goyle, hold the filthy mudblood away from me. I'm trying to read." Stroking the door, kicking the door, poking the door… come on door! You can hear what's happening in there the same as I can!

"What an interesting document mudblood. Flitwick would have been astounded with it. Probably would have earned you a few house points eh? Except you won't be able to give it to him. Unreliable as you mudbloods are, saying you'll do something then not having even a single sheet to hand in. Terrible." Harry heard sobs from inside and redoubled his efforts at the door. Wasn't there a spell called _allohamora? _Harry flicked his wand out and tried to cast it. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. _Oh damnit! _This wasn't one of the doors that wouldn't open! This was one of the walls that look like a door. Harry peered through the keyhole to try to see another door. Malfoy was holding up the papers for Hermione to see and said,

"Then I'll say 'Oh professor, if you wanted someone to write up _that_ you should've asked me. I've been researching it. Just in my spare time of course. Thanks for the house points mudblood." Harry heard another door open then close and ran in the direction of the sound. Malfoy and his minions were already out of sight so Harry quietly opened the door and went in. Hermione was slumped in a pile in the middle of the floor. He approached carefully and tried to think of something to say.

"Um Hermione…" She looked up then scowled when the saw him. "You could tell Flitwick, tell him what happened. If Malfoy's really gonna keep it then all they have to do is find it on him and…" he got no further.

"Shut up! You're as bad as he is! Breaking rules and playing pranks! You can't talk!" Hermione ran out of the room leaving Harry speechless. Harry stood for the longest time in the middle of the deserted classroom before walking slowly back to the Gryffindor common room. The marauders stopped talking when they saw his face, a mix of anger and pain. They all looked to him as he sat down.

"Forget all the other plans." Harry's voice was grave-quiet but his eyes had a wicked gleam. "We're breaking in the Slytherin common room. Tonight." The objections washed over him from the others; they weren't ready, they hadn't planned, tomorrow was Halloween and they needed to be rested for the party and most of all they could run into Snape. Harry sighed inwardly and began to tell the full story as quickly as he could. It was already getting dark, and they had places to be…


	5. Roofs at Night: 4

Harry Potter and the Roofs at Night Chapter 4 - Snakes and Ladders

"We're going to be caught. We're going to be caught!"

"Of course we'll be caught if you don't shut up Neville!" Padma held her hand over Neville's mouth and pulled him further into the closet. Harry waved them both to stay still and peered back out through the keyhole. Filches lantern glow was far up the corridor but he waited a good count of thirty before pushing the door open and leading the others out. In the end the choices for his companions were simple, he couldn't take more than two or they'd be seen for sure and they needed some people to stay in the common room to vouch for them if questions were asked. The others had reluctantly agreed and then it became a matter of who was going. Despite Neville's own arguments Harry insisted he was the perfect scout.

"You get lost so much if someone finds you out of place you can just say you were looking for the common room. And anyone but Snape'll probably let you off."

As for Padma, she was the only one who could reliably find the Slytherin dungeon since she had been in charge of that particular piece of recognisance and after all, she had been the one to find out the password. Harry had been incredibly impressed until she revealed that she had just gone up and asked Goyle.

"I just asked him straight out." She had explained while Harry's face slowly lost its amazement. "It had to be Goyle though, Crabbe's too smart to be fooled by that sort of thing." It had actually taken Harry quite a long time to realise she was joking.

The three of them crept down the last flight of stairs and Padma silently pointed to a flat piece of wall ahead. Harry nodded and he and Padma moved on while Neville got his wand out and pushed himself deep into an alcove behind some armour. Harry gestured back at him and got out his wand.

"_Mico Neville_" Harry muttered, sending the signal, and having his own wand vibrate as a reply. It was the best way to send signals, the person had to be within ten or so meters but it was virtually silent. Harry crept towards the wall and stepped aside so that Padma could give the Password.

"_Ophiophagus_" The wall dissolved from the centre and revealed the doorway.

"Anticlimax." Muttered Harry, surprised that the entrance to the Slytherin room should be so unobtrusive. "Expected fireworks." Harry moved into the shadows within and felt Padma following him.

It was dark but not pitch. A few dying embers in the huge marble fireplace gave an ominous glow. All the furniture was large and dark, and in the bad light it looked oddly threatening, looming like cliffs above the creeping children. Padma tugged at Harrys robe and as he looked back she waved her hand in front of her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't see. Harry knew his eyes were good by night and he kept forgetting the rest of his clan didn't share the benefits of his previous, independent lifestyle. Harry guided her to a wall and put her behind a wall hanging, sitting near a large urn unpleasantly decorated to resemble a screaming face. Harry placed Padma's wand in her hand and looked at her face before leaving. She was wearing a determined expression but her eyes were wide and she was breathing hard.

"No shame to back out." Harry whispered in her ear, for the first time having doubts about tonight's venture. "I did kinda throw everyone in at the deep end today."

"I'm staying." Padma's voice as barely more than a whisper. "I chose Gryffindor didn't I? I'd better start earning it." And with that she pulled back into the alcove.

"She said she chose her house too." Harry thought as he headed towards the Bedrooms. "Perhaps there's more to the sorting than brave, cunning or whatever. Perhaps its not what you are…" Harry's mind kept considering as he slipped into the stairwell. "It's what you want to be…"

*

Harry had to chuckle as his fingers found a doorknob in the dark. What he had thought would be the hardest part had turned out to be the easiest. They had debated for ages how to find out which room was Malfoy's, from bribing someone to covering his shoes with ultraviolet ink but it had been all for nothing. Harry checked the brass nameplate on the door and chuckled again before moving into the room. Like a ghost, Harry tried not to even think loudly. Like a ghost, here then gone, no trace. The room was large for a single person room, larger even than the one in Gryffindor tower he shared with four other people.

"Can't make precious pet Malfoy share a room." Harry sneered in the dark. If there had been a way to silently trash the place he would have done so, instead he began looking around for the project. He slid his hands onto shelves and held papers up in the moonlight to read the covers. The only time he stopped was when he was searching by Malfoy's bed and saw something on the covers. He'd had to double up to keep from laughing and he'd felt like every vein would burst. Malfoy had taken his teddy to school with him.

Harry could see a clock on the mantle, the hands glowing faintly in the dark and saw that he didn't have much time left. For a moment he stopped looking and just stood in the darkness to think. There was no way he could search the whole place, not going as slowly as he had to to avoid detection.

"The hat said I think like them." Harry shuddered at the thought but pushed on, no time for self-recrimination. "And Hermione said I'm just like him. So where would I hide it? Where would I trust to be safe enough…" Statues moved more than Harry in the long moments of the night.

"Nowhere. I wouldn't put it anywhere because I wouldn't trust it enough. I'd keep it with me from the moment I got it till the moment I let it leave my hands." Harry's gaze shifted to the prone figure on the bed. "Under the pillow? No, not that obvious. In his pocket? If it's there then I'm screwed so…Where else… No where. This line of thought has got me _no-where_ and time is running out." Harry threw up his hands in frustration and at that moment felt something in his pocket vibrate. He brought his wand out to feel the shaking in his hands.

*

Fear wasn't what he needed now, neither was a mad dash. Running now was the last thing he wanted to do… Just creep back through the door and go quietly down the stairs. Down the stairs to where there's a light on. Harry crouched at the top of the stairwell and shielded his eyes to conserve his night vision before sliding a tiny periscope between the banisters ("Do you carry whole toyshops around in you're pockets?" Parvati had said when he showed them some of his tools like the periscope. "You never know when this stuff'll come in handy." Harry winked and twirled a lock pick between his fingers.) The tiny mirror-pipe revealed a small cluster of fifth years who looked like they had just come in. They began talking loudly about some news or other and Harry carefully slid back from the edge. Now what? He didn't have the project, and his way out was now blocked. Correction, his and Padmas ways out were now blocked. Harry slid back to the edge, the Slytherins seemed to be settling down for a night of raucous behaviour as they lounged in the large chairs with a bottle of something, probably stolen from the kitchens. If they were distracted? If Harry waited until they simply drank themselves into a stupor? Perhaps they'd go to bed soon? Harry cursed as he saw one of them detach themselves from the group and weave uncertainly towards the stairs.

"What the hell was he gona do now?" Harry's brain worked quickly "Run back, hide in a… oh no don't!" Harry watched as Padma slipped out of her hiding place holding the handle of the giant urn.

"Back in!" Harry mouthed, abandoning the periscope and sticking his head between the banisters. "Before they see you." She shook her head stubbornly and raised the pot above her head.

"She's making a distraction!" Harry cursed "Stupid! Stupid! I told them 'no nobility during heists!'" Harry at least had the presence of mind to wrap his scarf around his face and trademark forehead before standing up and yelling…

"Oh no they're awake!" Harry gestured at imaginary figures in the empty hall behind him "Go! Run!" Harry had time to see the drunken snakes take in his red and gold edged robes and clamber over each other towards the stairs before he took his own advice and ran back down the hall.

It takes quite some ability to run quietly but Harry had experience, his footfalls were light as mice on the floorboards. He turned and saw a familiar door. Switching himself from quiet-running-mode to bloody-silent-creep he slid into Malfoy's room and shut the door.

"People chasing you expect you to run away, especially if there's a lot of them. They don't expect you to go to ground." Harry spoke the words in his head, hoping that would make them true.

"Start searching the rooms!" Ach… Harry desperately looked around the room for a place to hide but to his dismay saw only darkness. He had lost his night eyes in the common room.

"What was here? Where did I search? Oh my god, please just remember!" The rattling door handles and irritated voices got closer, thank heavens Salazar Slytherin built his walls thick and liked oak doors or Harry was sure Malfoy would have woken.

"Wardrobe? It had had glass in the front! Under the bed? No room!" Harry's thoughts grew panicked as the voices got closer. "Walls, floor, ceiling, bed, desk, wardrobe, fireplace…" Harry dropped to his hands and knees and crawled across the floor as fast as he dared. He was sure he was making noise now but he didn't have the nerve left to go any slower. His hands reached the cold stone of the hearth and he felt his way into it. No ashes at all, the fireplace had never been used. Later on that night Harry would realise that the Slytherins probably heated their chambers by magic so they didn't get the smoke and gained a more even heat, all he thought at the time was a panicked…

"Thank you!" as he stood up. His hands found a bar embedded in the wall to hang pots from and he lifted himself up and stood on it. At that moment light flooded in from below. Harry could see that his feet were only a few inches from the top of the fireplace and hoped fervently there was no one too short in the search party.

"What do you think you're doing!" Harry heard Malfoy cry out indignantly. "Why are you barging into _my_ room in the middle of the night Flint?"

"Yes Malfoy." Harry thought to himself "Good Malfoy. Now be you're little stuck up, indignant self and throw them out of your room."

"There's someone sneaking around in the rooms." The voice sounded like the speaker was gargling gravel. "We thought he might have come in here."

"No ones been in here you idiot! If they had don't you think I would have woken up?"

"Nope." Harry chucked as his panic began to fade. "And you're the idiot Malfoy. You should pay more attention to your gravely pal."

"He's not in any of the other rooms." A new voice, possibly younger and more hesitant than the gravely boy. "And we checked the toilets and back down in the common room." Harry hoped Padma had had the brains to be well on her way back to their common room by then, and to have Neville with her. Harry's hand brushed something in the wall behind him, careful not to make a sound he slid it out of the wall and choked back a triumphant gasp as he read the lettering on the cover of the parchment.

_The use of modified static-induction charms in_

the context of adhesives and fasteners.

Hermione Granger  
  
"Yes!" Thought part of Harry's mind. "I'm still born lucky! This is what I came here for."… "_This_ is what I came here for?" Said another part in disbelief "_adhesives and fasteners?_" Harry shook his head and laughed at himself a bit before folding up the report and slipping it into his robe. Back in the bedroom the conversation had become more heated.

"When my father hears about this!" Malfoy was in full argumentative swing "You will all be sorry! The Malfoy family own your father Flint! And you can be sure there will be words on the subject of this incident."

"I'm sorry Dra… Mr Malfoy." The other boy was obviously older but the fear was plain in his voice.

"You know." Malfoy's voice was more sly now "You know how you could make it up to me."

"But first years… never… go on the teams. No matter how, absolutely, brilliant they are at Quidditch." The older boy was obviously fearing some reprisal to boot-lick so obviously. "Definitely next year though!"

"That remains to be seen…" A new voice, a slimy voice, a voice dripping contempt with every word!

"Ah" Thought Harry as his gut clenched up "There's that panic again." Professor Snape continued talking in the room.

"Tell me why some of the leading members of Slytherin house are awake at this hour? Hmm… Some of them stinking of cheap wine!" He almost made the fact that it was cheap sound like the worst part. "Well? Or have you all been rendered dumb by drink!"

"We were chasing someone!" Flint said shakily "Someone was sneaking around in here!"

"Inside the Slytherin common room?"

"Yes."

"Inside the _password protected Slytherin common room?_"

"Yes!" Flint was frantic but Snape just snorted.

"Lunacy. All you saw was the wine floating in front of your eyes seeing as you seem to have drown yourselves in it!" Harry heard Snape's footsteps head towards the door.

"There was someone! They were wearing Gryffindor robes!" The footsteps continued and Harry heard a door open "And they were short!" The steps led out the door "And they had a scarf around their head!" steps then…

"WHAT!" Snape thundered back into the room. "They wore cloth around their head?!"

"Yes! So we couldn't see their face I'll bet!"

"Don't be stupid, he could conceal his identity better than that." Snape seemed to be talking to himself slightly at that point but then… "Search everywhere! Every room, turn them upside down and shake them if necessary!" Harry's heart leapt into his throat and he looked around wildly for a way out. But he already knew the only ways, down or up. Harry pushed his back against one wall and carefully shifted his feet onto the opposite one. Hogwarts was old stone and there were lots of handholds to help him chimney up faster, and more quietly. But just as he was thinking he had reached beyond their hearing someone said.

"What was that in the chimney?" Bloody Malfoy! Since when did snakes have such good ears? Harry went absolutely still except for his lips moving in a silent curse. "I heard something!" Harry looked down and was met by a relieving sight. The chimney curved as it went up, He could no longer see the circle of light at the bottom.

"I can't see anything." Flint again, thank heavens for small minds.

"Move over." Harry heard a thud as Snape pushed his student out of the way then… "_Acerbus cuspis!_" Harry's view was momentarily lighted as streaks of sickly silver light shot up the chimney towards him then his sight was lost in pain. Harry's feet slipped but he grimly held on by his handholds, gritting his teeth against the stabbing knots of pain each lance had left in him.

"I heard scraping Professor!" Malfoy must have heard his boots slip. "Something's up there!"

"_Acerbus cuspis!_" This time Harry was flattened against the wall and only a few of the bolts hit him. "_Conjunctivitis!_" that spell winged right past him, cracking chips off the wall above him, then… "_Relashio!_" Heat flooded up the chimney to him and Harry's skin felt like it was going to blister. He bit his tongue between his teeth and pulled one sweaty hand off the wall so he could fumble in pocket for a large metal jar. At the time Harry had thought Ron's suggestion had been a bit stupid but now he was especially glad he had agreed to bring the jar along. He pulled the cap off with his teeth and dropped the contents before they had a chance to bite him, far below he heard…

"Aaaa! Doxies!" A few more spells rang out but none directed at Harry, even the heat stopped, allowing Harry to put his feet back against the wall and give his aching arms a rest. Below him he heard Snape yell out

"Search the other rooms." Harry waited a long time before climbing further up. His arms needed the rest anyway and there was _no way_ he was gonna try to sneak back out through the Slytherins tonight.

*

The light below was lost behind Harry as he ascended out of the dungeons. The chimney he was climbing joined others then split again. One or two of the chimneys had ladders in them, or at least parts of ladders, but most of them he had to clamber up. The air was hotter and Smokey here, perhaps some of these chimneys were still in use this late, or more likely it was early enough that the kitchens had woken up. Harry would be the first to admit (to himself at least) that he had many fears but claustrophobia wasn't one of them. He pulled his scarf tighter above and below his glasses to keep out soot and around his mouth to breath through as he climbed up into more used chimneys. Harry felt himself move out into a larger area but couldn't see the walls through the dark and the smoke. Questing fingers found a rusted ladder and a few moments later Harry pulled himself over the brink of a huge chimney and let himself down to the rooftop below.

Tired but elated Harry pulled his scarf from around his face and tried to find some clean cloth somewhere on himself to wipe his glasses off. When he put them back on he was struck dumb for a moment by the sight that met his eyes.

Rolling hills of tile and banks of slate. Towers popping out at angles and fairy balconies with balustrades like lace. Harry walked along the roof ridge he had landed on in wonder, there was a whole world up above Hogwarts. More chimneys jutted out everywhere, some just pipes and some, like the one he'd emerged from, with width like industrial towers. Harry sat down on the ridge and shook his head in disbelief. Even the climb hadn't taken his breath like this did. He lay back and beheld another wonder. The stars from here seemed brighter, almost as good as the astronomy tower (Harry's favourite lesson, just as an excuse to stargaze).

"And no-one up here but me." Harry said aloud, there was no one to hear. "Peace." Harry could have fallen asleep against those tiles but something moving below caught his eye. Snape, passing along a corridor with tall windows all along it. Harry moved to hide then realised his soot-black robes blended perfectly against the night sky and wrapped his scarf around his face to hide the last pink skin. His glasses were still grubby enough not to shine.

Harry trailed Snape over the roofs, not even for a moment thinking of going back to the Gryffindor rooms and thinking even less of the danger. Here on the roofs he was in his element, there was no danger here. Snape stopped at what looked like a teachers quarters and pushed through the door without knocking. It took Harry a minute or so to find the corresponding window then lowered himself down near it. By luck or the sleepers habit it was ajar. When Harry moved closer he heard...

"D…on't know what you're talking about Severus. I've been asleep he…here the wh…ole time." Quirrell? Snape had gone to Quirrell?

"What whole time? How do you even know when this happened?" Snape's voice was angry and accusing. "The only fact that keeps me from cursing you into dark oblivion right now is that I can't quite bring myself to think that even one so pathetic as you would be stupid enough to think it was moved to the Slytherin dungeon of all places."

"Th…Then why are you here?" Quirrell's voice grew a little steadier now, just a little. "Why come to me?"

"Because perhaps you were looking for something else, perhaps a way past my protection of it or some clue as to what that protection is. I assure you, you would have found neither. My work is as fiendish as it is complex and as crafty…" Harry groaned inwardly, not this talk again. "And you could never pierce it. _Never_. Despite Dumbledore's supreme lack of judgement in hiring you and letting you assist in the protection of the stone I will keep unworthy things like you from it!" With that Snape turned and stamped out of the room. Harry was about to leave when Quirrell quietly spoke.

"He, suspects something master. We cannot do it tomorrow."

Harry waited but that seemed like all Quirrell felt like saying. Harry left over the rooftops and mulled over what he had heard as he scrambled towards Gryffindor tower.

"Do it tomorrow? Do what tomorrow? What's so special about tomorrow? Other than it being Halloween..."

*

"How could you leave him there!" Ron was still yelling despite all attempts to calm him down. Parvati grabbed him and clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Thank you." Padma breathed and shared a quick smile with her sister. But she quickly fell silent again. If she was to be honest with herself she would have to say she was ashamed. Ashamed that when Harry had stood up on the stairway she had instantly realised what he was trying to do (having been about to do the same herself) and had for a moment not known quite what to do. She was ashamed that after she had taken an age behind the curtain working up nerves and steeling herself to provide a distraction and Harry had done the same in an instant. She was ashamed that, when she heard people coming back towards the common room , she had bolted back though the door, pulled an astonished Neville from behind the armour and had shepherded him across the school, not once talking until they passed behind the fat lady and got back to Gryffindor common room and into the awaiting and recriminating stare of Ron Weasly.

"What will happen now." Neville's voice was small and he was hunched in on himself on his chair. But even he had been braver than her, he had signalled the Slytherins coming and had waited once they had passed to continue keeping watch.

"He'll probably just get detention, he'll lose us a few house points for being out after curfew." Padma knew her sister was deliberately making things seem better than they were to make her feel better. Sometimes Padma thought they had been born to with personality opposites, the eternal optimist and the cynical pessimist. Except this time her sister wasn't just being optimistic. And neither was she just being pessimistic when she said…

"But he could be expelled." The others went silent and looked down. They had all been thinking it. "For breaking into another house. For attempted theft. He could be expelled." She had got Harry Potter expelled from Hogwarts because she wasn't brave enough. She knew when the hat had left it up to her she would chose wrongly. She didn't deserve to be here. "In Harry's first term he'll be expelled."

"I'm doing _what_ now?"

The New Marauders turned en mass and saw a blackened and scraped Harry drop from one of the high windows. His face was red and raw and he had a ugly bruise on his left cheek, his hands were bleeding and he staggered as he hit the ground but he wore a smile of joy and triumph as wide as they had ever seen on him.

"Miss me?" Harry's stagger became a swagger as he approached them. "I wasn't gone that long. Although of course, in the company of Slytherins it seemed much longer."

"How did you…" Padma's voice breathed disbelief into the air. "They were right behind you."

"Chimney." Harry said lightly. "Easy climb really once you get past the first bit. Oh and one other thing…" Harry fished around in his pockets and drew out some papers. Padma found herself shaking her head, no, not after all that happened, you can't still have got it, no ones _that_ good. "We got what we came for. It may need some cleaning though…" With that the floodgates came loose and the Marauders began peppering Harry with questions. The strange child laughed as he unrolled a story that had them gasping. As she listened Padma realised she was glad she'd made her choice, even if she wasn't brave enough for Gryffindor she wouldn't give up the Marauders for the world. And besides, she thought as the looked at her sister, at Ron, at Neville and especially at the soot clothed figure animatedly talking before her, even if I'm not brave now I'll be learning from the best.

*

Hermione rose early from her sheets and was mildly surprised to see that they weren't covered in tears. She was sure she'd been crying when she went to sleep. She dressed mechanically and didn't talk to anyone as she made her way down to breakfast. Not that that was unusual she conceded to herself but today especially she didn't want to talk. That thought only made her hunch in further over her food. Before anyone else had left the table Hermione walked out of the great hall, leaving the rest of her food behind (even if she hadn't had somewhere to be she felt too nauseous to eat). The project was important, it was the sort of thing they gave third and fourth years to work on. Hermione straightened herself up as she walked towards Flitwicks office. Best get it over with…

"Going somewhere Mudblood?" Draco Malfoy lounged in the corridor in front of her. She ignored him and walked on past only to have him stick his foot forward to try to trip her up. "What? No insults? No 'Give it back!' today?" Hermione kept walking. "Oh, I don't have it with me. That would be a bit conspicuous, I figure I'll give it to him tomorrow. Or the day after, you know, so he doesn't get suspicious but is still impressed by my obviously superior talents." Draco grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. "Don't ignore me Mudblood!" He grated, "This is only the first stage. I'm going to make life hell for you and all the other filth at the school until you'll drop out of your own free will. I'll… Oh hello Professor!" Professor Flitwick had just emerged from his room and was looking between them.

"Hello young Mr Malfoy." He chirped "Are you and Miss Granger friends."

"We were just discussing the charms assignment you gave her." Draco turned to her with an evil smirk. "It's a topic I myself find very interesting."

"Then perhaps I should let you read Miss Grangers report. It was most detailed."

"What!" Malfoy's voice rose an octave. Hermione would have laughed if she hadn't been so shocked.

"Yes, left on my desk this morning. I flicked through it over breakfast. I used to read the daily prophet of a morning but there's so many adverts in it now." The professor shook his head and didn't appear to notice the totally dumbstruck expression on the two first-years faces. "I'll give you better feedback when I've read it fully Miss Granger and then…" Flitwick turned to Malfoy "…I'll be sure to give it to you." With that the short fellow wandered off humming faintly to himself.

"How." Malfoy had anger and shock in his eyes. "You didn't have other copies. You said you didn't have other copies!"

"I didn't." Hermione was surprised at the trace of smugness in her voice. Malfoy was looking at her with barely suppressed rage. Then he seemed to notice something and for a moment his eyes widened in realisation then screwed up in even darker anger than before. Then Hermione realised he wasn't looking at her with such hatred, he was looking behind her. She turned and looked back down the corridor. And there stood the Marauders. Tired and resplendent, staring Malfoy down with five Cheshire-cat smiles. The Slytherin looked like he was about to blow a vein, or possibly shoot steam out of his ears.

"YOU!" He bellowed striding towards them pointing with his wand. "It was you!" Harry and his friends stood their ground against the charge and Malfoy was brought to a standstill, it was that or walk into a human wall. "You stole it! When I tell my father he'll bring it to the school governors and…"

"Tell them what worm." Harry's voice was full of laughter.

"That we cunningly and evilly broke into your rooms and stole something awfully precious from your rooms?" Parvati said in a voice like she was talking to a child. She leaned forward. "Admit that we stole something that you stole yourself!"

"Even if you were willing to take a fall just to put us in trouble." Ron continued to a suddenly crestfallen Malfoy. "Even if you did, where's the proof? The reports right back where it should be and nothing else was taken from your rooms."

"Not even a teddy bear." Harry raised his eyebrows and began chuckling. After a moment the rest of his gang began laughing as well. Malfoy turned and stalked away against a backdrop of hysterical laughter. Hermione was surprised to she was laughing too. At the end of the corridor Malfoy turned back and yelled…

"You win this round Potter! But I'll get you next time!"

"I look forward to it." Harry said between wheezes. "You can show me the rest of your stuffed animal collection."

*

The unfortunate by-product of the heist was that Malfoy was even more acidic than usual in class that day. Despite repeated warnings from teachers he insulted Harry and the rest of the Marauders with every other breath. Fortunately though that breath was wasted as nine times out of ten the Marauder in question was asleep on their chair. Hermione sighed, but not unhappily and reached for a new quill. She'd better make these notes good, it looked like they'd have to be copied from a few times. When she reached the common room there was a sixth chair by the fireside table. She smiled and felt warm inside for the first time in what seemed like forever and walked over to sit down with her friends.


	6. Roofs at Night: 5

Harry Potter and the Roofs at Night Chapter 5: Hidden, Forbidden, Darkness and Gloom

"Go on!"

"No! I can't!"

"Go for it! You've come this far."

"He'll see me!" Hermione glanced over the balustrade to where Snape was berating Ron and Neville for 'fighting' in the corridor. What the boys had in fact been doing was distracting Snape so he would come and stand under the overhanging upper story. That part of the plan had gone perfectly. The next part was proving problematic.

"Just pick it up and tip it on his head." Harry spoke slowly pointing first to the bucket of cooking oil (a few pieces of burnt chicken were still floating in it) standing between them then down to the potions master. "Then we run like hell."

"You're all crazy! Any _one_ of the stunts you've pulled could warrant expulsion! How long do you think you can keep getting away with it?" Hermione's whisper was angry and horse. "And if you think" She pointed at his head "I'm tipping that" A gesture at the grease "over a Hogwarts teacher!" a finger stabbing down at Snape "You must be crazy!" She swung her arms wide in exasperation and they both heard a thump, then a splashing noise.

Harry saw his friends face turn from righteous anger to grey dread fast as a striking match. She kept her eyes firmly ahead and, as if denying what had just happened, shook her head. Harry in contrast had grinned like a maniac and now grabbed Hermione by the robe and began running off through the corridors pulling her after him. A moment later they heard a violent roar behind them

"WHO DID THIS TO ME!" Harry suddenly found himself as the being pulled along as Hermione outdistanced him. "THE STUDENT WHO DID THIS WILL PAY WITH PAIN!" Harry pulled Hermione to a stop and dragged her sideways into a little used corridor, with her still wide-eyed and ashen-faced he pushed her to a pre-opened window.

"Come on! Just like the plan!" Harry said, then added "Only REAL!" Hermione almost jumped through the window and disappeared as she clambered up a ladder. Harry swung out after her, shut the window and slid onto the tiles above. He wasted no time in pulling himself back to the edge and poking his periscope back down to the edge of the glass. A second later an irate Snape ran past. Harry only caught a glimpse, but he thought the man seemed _slicker _than usual. Harry rolled back and looked up at Hermione who still seemed shaken.

"I hope Parvati and Padma were in place with the camera. I wouldn't have wanted to have to do all that again." Hermione's expression sent Harry into another fit of giggles.

*

A week or so latter the morning bloomed bright and early as the Marauders made their way down to the grass in front of the castle. Harry stopped to post up a few more pictures after making sure the coast was clear. The Slytherins were tearing them down wherever they saw them on Snapes orders but Harry had even seen some of them trying to hide giggles as the wizard poster displayed Snape being doused again and again. The rest of the school didn't bother to hide it and the school had been awash with laughter ever since the first one went up three days ago.

The teachers were all trying to find who was posting them (Harry had caught both Flitwick and Sprout laughing when they thought no one was looking and even McGonagall had cracked a smile when an incoherent Snape had burst into her classroom brandishing a wad of posters that had papered the main courtyard). The teachers didn't know how so many of them were getting so many places around the grounds. Harry knew, it was just a matter of a handy rooftop and a following wind. When he had seen some errant pictures carried into the sky by gusts he had idly wondered just how far they'd go.

Hagrid too had been roped into removing them but when Harry went down to his hut to see him the giant man had laughed and handed a stack of posters back to him.

"They told me I had to take 'em down." Hagrid had said with a wink. "They didn't say what I had to do with 'em after." Harry had been even happier to see a stack of envelopes on Hagrid's table. It looked like the distribution was going to even wider than he thought.

The teachers search and Madam Hooch's earlier ill health were some of the reasons they were going to their first flying lesson bundled up in winter clothes.

"Now…" Madam Hooch's voice rang out over the assembled Gryffindors and Slytherins "Just raise your right hand over the broom and yell UP! Just like this… UP!" Her broom leapt obediently into her hand, Harry noted that it was varnished and looked a lot newer than the ones the students had. "Well go on…"

The class obediently placed their hands over their brooms.

"UP!" Harry yelled, feeling a bit foolish, the stick by his feet refused to budge. "UP!" Harry looked around and saw first one then others of the class acquire their brooms. "UP!" Harry thought maybe Malfoy had replaced his magic broom for a real broom in revenge but the things had been handed out randomly. Harry shifted his foot surreptitiously underneath his broom and tensed... "UP!" Harry grabbed the rising broom and held it nonchalantly on his shoulder. He caught Parvati looking at him and giggling.

"What? I didn't do anything."

"That's right you didn't!"

A few moments later everyone had their brooms and Madam Hooch was showing them how to grip the stupid things.

"Right, now… Just kick off from the ground, hover for me for a second then leeee…an forward and float back down again." Madam Hooch demonstrated then held up her gloved hand. "Three… Two… One." Portions of the class rose unsteadily into the air, others remained grounded or had slipped off their rising brooms. Harry glanced to his sides shame-faced as his broom resolutely refused to demonstrate any characteristics beyond long, wooden and prickly. Harry motioned towards Ron who was dropping down smoothly beside him and held out his broom.

"Let me try with yours."

"No, I don't want the dud broom!" Ron strafed out of reach to the side with a practiced hand before coming to rest. "Take Neville's."

Harry turned and saw Neville rising at a snails pace with a look of teeth-gritting concentration. "At that rate the class'll be over before he gets down." Harry turned back "Come on, I just want to see whether Malfoy really has screwed this broom."

"Only powerful magic can interfere with most broomsticks." Hermione was landing ungracefully beside him, gripping the broom with white knuckles. Harry chuckled at the thought that she still found concentration left to lecture them. "These are old brooms but their still fairly resistant to that sort of thing."

"This isn't dark magic I'm talking about its him swapping it with a normal broom." Harry poked at the bristles trying to elicited some reaction. "Why don't you lend me yours then, you don't look like your in a hurry to fly again."

"And what is that supposed to mean!" But Ron cut off any ensuing argument

"Oh fine…" He held out his broom. "Just give it a shot if you have to."

"Thanks." They swapped brooms and Harry got himself back into the demonstrated riding position. He hopped off the ground but dropped back down just as quickly.

"Still having trouble?" Harry saw Ron float over his head and drop down in front of him, "Nothing wrong with this one mate." Ron knocked his knuckles against the wood of Harry's broom. "I think its even a little better than my one."

"In that case give it back." As Ron laughed Harry held up his broom "Or I'll show you the other way to use one of these!"

"Having trouble Potter." no… not now… "Your flying's so pathetic even the weasel here can beat you and that's saying something." Malfoy floated along in front of Harry, sitting side-saddle and not even bothering to hold on. "Didn't your father ever teach you to fly… Oh no wait I forgot! He's a bit too mouldy to sit on a broom now!" The comment about his parents washed over Harry but the other insults bit and he sneered at the white haired kid in front of him. Ron however erupted. "What do you mean that's saying something!" He was back on his broom in a trice and whipped himself around Malfoy so fast the Slytherins robes billowed in the wind. "Half of my family's been on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"

"As if that's saying anything." Malfoy shot back but he had had to grip his broom in the crosswind and was now sitting normally, staring Ron down. "Gryffindor haven't won the cup in years. Being on a team of losers is no accolade weasel."

"Yeah, they haven't won since my brother Charlie left!" Ron's tirade had began to attract attention and Madam Hooch was walking over. Harry tried to catch Ron's eye but failed. "Best seeker in a decade! He coulda' played for Engl…."

"Mr Weasly! Mr Malfoy! Decend at once!" Madam Hooch didn't wait for them to respond and instead grabbed the fronts of their brooms and yanked them to the floor. Ron fell in a heap, Malfoy kept his balance but only barely. "I will have no arguments in my classes and I distinctly told you to rise then drop, not hover like blowflies!" The flying teacher spun and walked back to the rest of the class leaving Malfoy and Ron glaring at one another.

Harry shifted his broom under himself, all during the argument he'd tried to rise up and join his friend but the broom had refused to move. By the end of the lesson he'd flown once, a few wobbling feet followed by a total collapse into the grass. Malfoy had laughed worse than before and Harry said some things that lost them house points ("An eleven year old shouldn't know those words Mr Potter, much less know what they _mean_!") and the Marauders were a muted lot that ascended the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Parvati tried to lighted the tone by pointing out how many students had the drenched Snape posters on the walls of their rooms and Harry decided to stop moping.

"Right," Harry cracked open a drink stolen from the kitchen. "Down to the serious business. What have you all found out about Quirrell?"

*

"I still think Snape's your bad guy Harry." Ron tapped his finger on the table as if to punctuate himself. Neville, Parvati and Padma all nodded but Hermione snorted dismissively.

"Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean you can blame them for anything Ronald." Hermione shook her head as if explaining to a child.

"It just doesn't make sense Ron." Harry continued "Snape may be a git but it doesn't make sense. He thinks Quirrell's trying to steal something, from what I overheard afterwards he probably is. Why would Snape play like he's accusing Quirrell when only Quirrell was in the room! Also why would Quirrell play like it's him when _nobody_ was in the room!" Harry leafed through some papers again while the others bickered, the daily prophet from a few months ago was there, a raid at gringots where nothing was taken. Other things too, Quirrels records, researched through old files, an intelligent student, masterful in the theory if not the practice of defence against the dark arts, the last few years of his life spent travelling around dealing with dangerous dark beasts. Harry pushed them away and pulled over a thinner file, Severus Snape, potions master of Hogwarts and long time envier of the defence against the dark arts post. There wasn't much else, Snape didn't seem to be a very newsworthy person.

"It's right there." Ron was taking to him again. Harry pressed his hands to his temples, there's only so much insistence one can take. "Snape wants the dark arts job and is trying to get Quirrell sacked." Harry was about to explain then stopped, if the last thirty times hadn't done it…

"We're not going to know until we see what's on the third floor." Padma said with a note of finality. "Until then all this is just academic." She waved her hands over the table. Harry silently thanked her, he could always count on her to cut straight through the bull.

"We won't be able to do it." Hermione crossed her arms. "Well we won't!" She said to their recriminating stares "I'm not just being… being…"

"Yourself?" Ron said and earned a kick from Parvati.

"Being strait-laced. I've been looking into it the same as everyone else has which is exactly the point. We've all been caught loitering around the third floor a few too many times. Did you hear what McGonagall said in class yesterday?" They all did, she'd basically just repeated what Dumbledore had said at the start of term but she had looked _right at them_ the entire time and each word had been clipped like little razors. "She knows we're planning something and she probably knows we're behind the posters too, she just cant prove it."

"So?"

"So, Mr Ronald Weasley they are watching us like hawks. I'll bet there's a teacher guarding the third floor right now and another just on the other side of that door." She pointed at the other side of the fat ladies portrait, from this side looking like a hole in the wall. "Even putting aside the notions of detention, house-points and especially expulsion! We'd never get close enough to the corridor to find anything. It's all your fault really" She continued without a breath. "If you hadn't done your pointless rule breaking we might be able to find out really important stuff now." That comment was the reason an argument broke out that Harry had to calm down with wit. It was also at least partially the reason Harry stayed awake that night till he was sure Ron and Neville were asleep then got out his darkest clothes and slipped out one of the windows before heading in the direction of the forbidden corridor.

*

Harry peered through a window and saw professor Vector idly marking some assignments by the light of his wand while sitting on the stairs above the fat lady's portrait. Reminding himself to tell Hermione later (she'd be insufferably smug but she deserved the satisfaction) Harry slipped away and made his way over to the third floor corridor on the right hand side, or above it at least. The thing was in the middle of the building, no chimney or window reached it and Harry could only peer through a side window at the Wizard guarding the doorway… Quirrell… Standing in a patch of _lumos_-light, his shadow jumping as he nervously twiddled his wand in his fingers. Harry slid inside and dropped behind a column. Quirrell was guarding it? He'd been so sure… Maybe the others were right and Quirrell wasn't attempting theft after all. Or maybe he just hasn't gotten past the defences Snape mentioned yet. Then why isn't he inside the corridor _trying_ to break through them. Harry's mental monologue was cut short as the answer leaned out of the patch of darkness it had been sequestered in, invisible even to Harry's eye's.

"Nervous Quirrell?" Snape slid from his shadowy corner, his wand held lightly but readily in his hand. "Or perhaps not happy with the company." Harry saw now that it hadn't just been the shadow, Snape's entire body blended into the background, changing colour like a chameleon. Only his eyes stayed the same, black holes even against the lighted grey rock behind him, it made them seem like they were floating above the ground.

"Why ever w…would I be unhappy Severus." Quirrell was leaning away from the wraith-like form before him. "No one better equipped to guard this place than you and I, Eh?"

"Because if you were unhappy with this arrangement." Snape continued like nothing had been said. "You'd have to get used to it because I've made sure all our guard duty's occur on the same nights Quirrell, won't that be _fun_." Snape laced the last word with such poison Harry was surprised the DADA professor didn't run like a rabbit. Instead he jumped like one and whimpered.

"Y…you truly don't trust me Severus?"

"No Quirrell. I do not, have never and will never trust you." Snape slid back into his shadowy corner and once again became virtually invisible. Quirrell swallowed loudly and brightened his wand, peering into the darkness around.

But Harry was already prepared, while they had been talking he had sneaked around into the room next to the be-turbaned wizard and entered. It was an empty classroom, desks piled up to the ceiling. Harry waited near the door as the searchlight beam swept past his position, swinging across the room like passing headlights before moving on. Harry waited patiently. Step two was already in motion.

*

Crack…

"What was that!" Snape pushed forward from his hiding place at the small but nearby sound. He pointed his camouflaged arm at the far wall, by some pillars. "I heard something over there."

"I didn't hear anything." The rat said in his cowardly quavering tone. "Perhaps you're… ha… ha… imagining things…Severus."

"It should be Snape from the likes of you." Snape kept scanning the darkness before him and a moment later

Crack…crack…

"There." Behind a pillar, perhaps the Potter boy or one of his clique trying to reach the corridor again. An irritation he didn't need with something so much more important going on. The rat Quirrell needed watching. For now Snape wasn't sure whether he wanted the stone for himself or for… for… Snape shuddered away from the name in his mind. Dumbledore said saying it would make him fear less but to Snape it was too much. The old fool didn't know, he hadn't been up close. Some things _deserve_ fear.

"Well if you think so th… then go over and check."

"Oh you'd love that wouldn't you Quirrell." Snape jammed his wand under the servile wretch's chin. Quirrell squealed and tried to stand on his tiptoes to escape the dark-wood point. "Leave you close to the door unsupervised while at the same time turning my back on you. Something I will never do." Snape pushed the man towards the other wall. "You go first."

They walked like hostage and kidnapper up the cold stone pathway to the pillar. Quirrell raised his wand. Not a chance…

"Back down by your side or I will take it and possibly the hand It's gripped in too." Quirrell's arm shot back down. As they reached the pillar Snape let the rat take the lead and look around the corner. Better him to take the first blow if one came.

"There's n… nothing here Sev…Professor Snape." No there isn't _now_, not after you distracted me for so long. Useless idiot.

Snape stepped around himself and saw nothing but three oddly placed rocks, all together, near the ground where they might have fallen. They were both considering the conundrum when a shadow skirted the back wall and stopped by the no-longer-guarded door.

*

"_Alohomora._" just a whisper like silk sliding over silk but the lock clicked and Harry slid the door open just ever so slightly, then entered the forbidden hall.

"Ha." Harry thought as he took one last glance at the professors before closing the door. "_Lighter than air liquorish. Eat it quick or it melts in the air!_ also if you tie up a rock or two with it you get a noise about five minutes after you take it from its wrapping. Who needs Q when you have mail-order Honeydukes?" Harry turned back and for the first time took a look at his surroundings.

Pitch black. Not even eyes trained for this could penetrate it. Harry squatted down quietly and let his other senses have a try.

Cold, clammy, slight intermittent breeze. Odd that, you'd think there was nowhere for a breeze to come from. Also the air had been dead still out on the roof.

Damp scent with a hint of mud and mess. There was urine in there somewhere too and other things even less savoury. Bit like a wet dog smell…

And most importantly in a bone chilling, heart leaping, cold-sweat, dry-palms, running-for-the-door-despite-Snape-and-all way, the sound of breathing. Heavy in-out breaths with a hint of slobber on them. More like snoring actually. Harry tried to calm himself down and at least partially succeeded. Getting out his wand he smothered the tip in his robes then breathed.

"_Lumos_"

The glow through the fabric was like dead fireflies but it showed Harry the shape of what was in front of him. Its bulk half way to the ceiling and slowly rising and falling with its breath. Like a muffled wraith Harry moved across the floor, skirting the walls until he had travelled all the way around the beast, having to step over its tail where it brushed the wall. There were no other doors. This room and this beast was all there was to see. Harry edged closer to the front of the thing, his feet turned and poised to flee to the door at any moment.

"But what if I'm not fast enough." Harry tried to silence his brain but it kept up its shrill reservations "What if its like a dragon and it doesn't matter how fast I am. It'll wake and I'll die in one bright flare in the darkness!"

"It'll wake for sure if you don't shut up and let me concentrate!" Harry edged in closer to the beast and stopped when his light revealed a change of texture in the floor. Harry carefully traced its edge in his mind. "A square… a trapdoor… that which is hidden… that which is forbidden." Harry grinned in the dark. The only problem was the dark mass obscuring one corner of the square, a paw or claw of the thing. Harry's movements was as slow as drifting feathers and as quiet as his hands found the edge of the thing, and the handle, on the opposite side to the claw. Harry wanted to extinguish his wand but the sound he'd have to make was worse than the stifled glow. Harry reached for the trapdoor handle and applied the lightest touch of draw to it, increasing by hairs breadths Harry felt the wood move.

A grunt near his shoulder made his muscles freeze and his heart race. He felt flesh move all around him and the air brought new wafts of stench. But the beast just grunted again and fell back into snoring. Harry eased the door up a half span more then stuck his hand in and felt inside. No steps met his questing hand, just a straight shaft. Harry propped the door open with a rod and felt in his pocket. He drew forth a long string. His nimble fingers felt the plumb on the end and he put it through the trapdoor then slowly and evenly paid out rope counting under his breath. The string went slack. About eight meters. With something soft he'd do it. With cold stone he'd break a leg. Harry wondered if a real wizard would know some self levitation charm to get themselves down safely. He pulled back up on the string and suffered a surprise. It was stuck! He tugged on it again. No give at all. He tugged again and in a heart stopping moment, felt the rod brush his arm.

The trapdoor banging closed was like a cannon ball in the gut and Harry felt the darkness move around him. He threw himself backwards as a guttural growl filled the room with primeval fear. He saw a shape the size of an oven smash down in front of him and heard wood splinter and crack. Harry whipped the cloth from his wand and the stark shadows danced high on the walls before him as the massive rottweiler head turned and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. Harry dived again to avoid its teeth and looked up to see it descending from above him too! Harry kicked off from the ground and slid, he felt hot breath on his back and the snap of jaws behind him but he was gone. Straight into the ruined trapdoor and plummeting down the shaft.

*

Harry spun in the air and he felt hard pain as his head caught itself a crack on the passing wall. He landed in a plant and in a daze, his eyes showing him black spots more than anything else. He lifted his hand to his head and was surprised to see it came back clean, without blood or possibly brains. He shook his head to clear it and held his shaking hand and wand up to reveal his surroundings. A nondescript room with this plant covering the floor, covering some of the walls too, and the ceiling, and him!

"What the hell!" Harry shouted at the tendrils as they wrapped themselves around his legs. He tried to pull them off but they were like wire! They wrapped his waist too! Harry pulled and tore at the vines! "_Acerbus cuspis!_" Harry used the curse Snape had aimed at him but bare threads of light shot from his wand and the plant barely noticed. What was that other one!? Think! Think! "_Relashio!_" red sparks and heat shot from his wand and where they hit the plant drew back. "_Relashio!_" Harry aimed at his legs and cried out as his skin burned. But he was free. He stumbled to his feet and blasted a few last tendrils. He leapt to the door and pushed through, staggering down the corridor occasionally pointing his wand back in case the demon plant had tried to follow him, he reached another door and carefully pushed it open, wand out in front he entered the room, and was met by a strange sight.

Shining, fluttering glittering things, flying near the ceiling hundreds of them. Harry edged out into the centre of the high vaulted space. The fairy sparks remained near the ceiling and Harry at last stopped eying them crooked. He walked over to the door on the other side and tried the handle. Locked. Obviously. It could never be easy could it? Harry was just wondering what to do when he heard voices from behind him. Spinning like a startled cat Harry saw faint light coming from around the edges of the door he'd just come through. The light and the voices got stronger as Harry searched for a hiding place. He ran to a wall buttress and grabbed for a handhold, thank heavens they like decoration around this place…

*

"I assure you Professor Dumbledore no one got past us. Unless they were… hm… Invisible! Ha…"

"I am not impugning your ability Quirenius I merely wish to be sure." Dumbledore walked slowly as if there was no hurry. Severus had alerted him as soon as the dog had awoken and had himself tried to calm the beast which was tearing at the floor near the trapdoor in a frenzy. Still, the old fool still had his wits about him. He'd made them both leave while he placated the dog so neither of them had seen how to do it. He'd conjured a staircase to take them down and a marble walkway over the devilsnare with a casualness that betrayed his true powers. Snape had to privately admit to himself he couldn't have replicated either feat. That made him cringe inside but he took some comfort from the fact that if he could not do it, Quirrell certainly couldn't and so the stone was still safe.

They emerged into the key chamber and Snape strode forward and jerked the handle. The door was still locked.

"They could have locked it from the other side." Ivy and keys? Foolishness and idiocy. The other teachers hadn't protected the stone nearly well enough.

"But if they had." Dumbledore said in his insufferably unruffled voice. "Then the key would have been locked on that side with them and I think… Ah!" The old man pointed a be-ringed finger towards the ceiling and Snape strained his eyes into the cloud of glitter but failed to pick out which one the old man was indicating. "It's still here. So… crisis averted. Or more correctly, there never was a crisis in the first place."

"Well. I… I for one am calling my replacement." Quirrells voice was shrill and grating. Snape made a mental note to add de-lunging to his list of tortures once he finally caught the loathsome creature. "I'm all of a fl… flutter." Quirrell turned and walked back down the corridor.

"Professor." Perhaps he'll listen to me now. Perhaps the doddering fool will listen to what I have to say now. "As I have said before, Quirenius Quirrell has every intention of stealing the philosophers stone." Snape was so incensed he didn't even notice the movement above him in a high alcove, like someone getting into a better position to listen. "He was seen snooping around the Slytherin common room a week ago and he's never really explained why he took the defence job in the first place." Snape couldn't give voice to the real reason for his mistrust. A gut feeling, a twisting knife in his heart and an aura of menace he felt in every cell whenever Quirrell was nearby. An irrational fear too. A fear of being discovered, a fear that made every moment a silent prayer that his mental defences would hold and he wouldn't be found out for what he was. He hadn't felt like that in over ten years…

"And as _I_ have said before Severus I have no reason to mistrust Professor Quirrell." As he half turned away Snape could have sworn that Dumbledore's lips tilted into a quiet smile. "But if it would help you sleep better I will place my own protection on the stone tonight rather than waiting until after Christmas." That was certainly a shock!

"Professor you have resisted every request that you add your own magic's to the protection of the stone." He had. All the other teachers had done it but the headmaster had maintained he wasn't ready yet and he still needed to test. "What has changed? Have I truly swayed you?"

"Many things have changed. Before I had not tested enough. Now I have." Dumbledore took a small sweet out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth before continuing. "I intended to do a bit more testing but…" The old man spread his hands. "I suppose the current version will probably work well enough."

"May I ask what this miraculous protection is?" The headmaster had made some extraordinary claims about what his protection would do. "A protection that not the Dark Lord, nor any Death Eater, nor anyone with wish to use it for ill or greed could penetrate?"

"Ah Severus." Now the man _was_ smiling. Sometimes the senile old man was just plain insufferable. "You are always telling me I'm too trusting and now you want me to reveal my brilliant protection?" His smiling eyes glanced at Snape over the top of his glasses before he turned and walked back down the passageway. There wasn't much Snape could do but follow him.

*

Harry waited a good half hour after seeing Snape disappear, just to be sure he was truly gone before slipping out of his hiding place and climbing down to the floor. With a furtive glance around he made for the door and was almost there before…

"Leaving already Harry?"

Harry turned on his axis, his face frozen mid gasp and looked up into the face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Headmaster." Harry said doing his best to smile. "I was just inspecting the security you have here. Sort of… um… assessing it for you so I could tell you where you could… improve…it…" Harry trailed off under that quizzical stare.

"And…"

"And?"

"And how could I improve it?" Dumbledore was half smiling when he said that. Under that warm smiling face Harry relaxed a little, this didn't feel like a conversation that could end in expulsion.

"Well, the two headed dog was good."

"Last I looked it had three heads."

"Well I didn't stick around long, I only met two. The plant was less good though. A little heat, a few sparks and it's backing away."

"Devilsnare has clamed older and wiser wizards than you Harry. You'd be amazed how few people can still think clearly enough to burn it away while being constricted." Dumbledore stepped forward and touched Harry's face. A moment later he nodded and touched Harry's forehead with his wand. A moment later Harry felt an odd tingling fill him, the burns on his legs faded and disappeared, as did the scrapes he'd received throwing himself away from the dog. "There. All better." Dumbledore moved back and folded his arms. "And now I'm afraid to say I must ask the real reason you came down here tonight." Suddenly the air had grown colder. Expulsion was back on the table.

In defiance of tradition Harry tried the truth.

"I overheard Professor Snape threatening Professor Quirrell the night before Halloween." Dumbledore just nodded as if this was normal. "Snape seemed to think he was going to try and steal something. We…" No, better he thinks I'm the only one to blame "_I_ worked out that it must be what's hidden here. What you got Hagrid to collect for you the same day we shopped for my school stuff. The same thing someone tried to break into Gringots to get later."

"The philosophers stone." When Dumbledore saw Harry's face he continued "Harry, don't feign shock I know you overheard my previous conversation with Professor Snape. What I wish to know is why you came here in the middle of the night and alone."

"Couldn't risk anyone else. And besides, they all make too much noise for this kind of work." Harry tried to picture Neville sneaking past the dog and giggled. "The only way I could do this was alone." The other reason of course was that after being humiliated by Malfoy on a broomstick he'd wanted to prove to himself that he _could_ do it alone.

"Harry. As amazed as I am to say this it is possible you are going to turn out to be _more_ trouble than your father. I never thought anyone would challenge that crown." Dumbledore's smile was back, and this time not a half one. He shook his head ruefully then frowned as if a painful memory was surfacing. But the smile was back in a moment and he motioned Harry over to the wall behind him where a tall mirror was stood.

"That wasn't here before."

"I brought it down after conversing with Professor Snape."

"This is your protection? What your using to protect the stone?"

"Part of it." Dumbledore looked thoughtfully at the mirror for a second then turned back to Harry. "Its called the Mirror of Erised. Look into it and tell me what you see."

Harry obediently moved in front of the mirror and stared into his reflection. He wasn't alone in the mirror. Behind him stood the new Marauders, some of the other students he'd talked to around the school, Hagrid, even Malfoy for some reason, more faces he'd met and some people he hadn't but still felt some odd connection to, as if they were… friends. As he watched he saw himself age, and the others around him too, passing through teenage years he grew taller, passing further and further, lines appeared on his face, then grey in his hair. He grew to an old man, smiling, surrounded by his friends. Then in an instant he was back as a child and he saw it begin again.

"What does it mean?" Harry looked at the silver haired professor who was standing nearby. "Is it showing the future?"

"One could hope so, but no." Dumbledore seemed pleased but faintly surprised as he looked down at Harry. "The mirror shows us nothing more or less than what we truly desire above all else. You Harry, who by your own choice lived a lonely and cold childhood desire friends, and companions and more than that..." Dumbledore took Harry by one shoulder and kneeled down to talk to him face to face "…you want to know you'll keep them. You want to know that you don't have to go back to the cold life. Because that is what you most fear."

Harry looked back at the mirror. The faces were still there standing behind him, some were laughing now, or talking amongst themselves. The figures were growing misty for some reason, Harry wondered if there was something wrong with the mirror. Then he felt the sting in his eyes. Wordlessly, Dumbledore handed him a tissue.

"Let me take you back to your room Harry." He said quietly. "Your friends are waiting for you." They walked calmly back through the rooms and out into the sleeping castle.

*

"So." Said Harry at a loss for conversation. "How'd you get past the other protections?" The Headmaster fixed him with a critical eye.

"I reckon I could get past 'em." Harry grinned up at the old wizard. "Got past two didn't I?"

"Indeed you did. The details of which I would prefer you keep to yourself." He smiled back down at Harry. "And perhaps you are right. I strongly suspect that my own protection would not trouble you at all."

"Hm, how do you get past a mirror? Break it! That's the answer isn't it."

"Oh please Harry. Do you really think my protection would be so crude."

"Exactly. It's so simple that no one would suspect! That's how I'd do it."

"Then I am thankful Harry, that I am not actually employing you."

*

"Harry!" Ron's voice filtered down from the first years room to where Harry was idly skimming through one of his school books by the Christmas tree. "What are you doing down there?"

"What do you mean?" Almost no one else left in the Gryffindor common room since everyone was away for the holidays, thus Harry didn't feel the need to moderate his voice when yelling back to Ron. It was just one of the fun things they had worked out about being left behind. Of course Ron wouldn't have kept quiet anyway. Ron had no volume control. "And Merry Christmas to you to!"

"Merry Christmas? Yeah I can see why you'd leave that to last seeing as you've left all your presents up hear." Ron emerged from the staircase and tossed a present at Harry who caught it before it could knock over a lamp. "Why'd you just leave them up there?"

If Harry had been honest he would have said that he'd just assumed they were Ron's. Instead he went for…

"Didn't want to wake you. And why are you using my presents as projectiles? What if it had been fragile?"

"Nah mate." Ron shook his head ruefully "I can tell what that one is, however you wrap them they all feel the same." Harry unwrapped the parcel and pulled out a blue, knitted jumper. On the front were three juggling balls in red, yellow and green. "My mum." Ron said holding up a similar article. "She makes them for all of us. Must have heard you weren't expecting many presents."

"Its pretty good. Very debonair." Harry pulled the jumper on over his head and they went back up to the room to get the rest of the presents. Of course Harry had sent his friends presents (poor Digger had been run ragged. The little owl was so eager to please she didn't seem to take any breaks in flight.) but it kind of failed to click in his head that he'd probably get some in return. Harry noticed one with Hermione's neat handwriting on it (after all, he'd copied off her notes enough times. Occasionally even with permission.) and pulled it over first.

"It'll be a book mate."

"Wow Ron, a thick, heavy, rectangular package from a known bookworm? And just from that you can guess it's a book?"

"That, and she got me one too." Ron held up a book with a checkerboard cover, there was a rook on the front but Harry couldn't read the title. Pulling the paper off his own present he smiled. It was an large selection of chocolates but what made him smile was the note on the top that said

_Admit it, you thought this was a book didn't you?  
_  
Ron himself had provided Harry with an absurdly orange hat and Neville had found him some juggling batons charmed to trail rainbows in the air behind them when thrown. Padma and Parvati had got him books, but it looked like they'd collaborated because the titles read _Secrecy and Illusion, charms of concealment_ and _Beyond allohamora, unlocking your obstacles_. Most of the rest were edible things (not that Harry minded) and he bit into a bar of chocolate while settling down to read.

*

Harry popped the second to last of his Christmas chocolates into his mouth and handed the last one to Parvarti who was skulking in the shadows nearby. At least it was a nice night, nights with rain had been rather unpleasant. For the past few months the marauders had been working on the Quirell mystery but getting nowhere. Eventually one day when they were researching in the library Harry threw his book away in disgust and said

"This is pointless."

"You're the one who said we had to get him mate." Ron had been staring at a book on ancient alchemy for the past half hour. He hadn't turned the page.

"We do have to get him." Harry waved his hand wearily over the table. "But we've gone through all this stuff. We're not gona find anything this way."

"We can't really do anything else Harry." Herminone had pointed out. Of course she would say that. She was probably _enjoying _this. "We just don't know enough about what he's doing."

"No…" And that was when the idea had formed in Harry's mind. It was so simple he wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. "But we can find out."

"How?" Neville had asked.

"We become his shadows. We watch him everywhere he goes. He's got to slip up eventually right?"

Organising a night watch had seemed like a lot more fun than it was. In teams of two they rotated, each team taking either the first half of the night, the second half or having a night off. After a week and a half of reduced sleep the 1st year rascals were getting a bit ratty. At least he was paired with Parvarti. She was _mostly_ cheerful.

"This isn't working." Or not…

"We know he's going somewhere. Some nights." Ron had woke them all after one of his rounds with the news that Quirrell had slipped out furtively. Him and Hermione had moved swiftly to the third floor corridor to head him off, but he had never showed. "We just need to go for a little longer."

"But I'm tired." The usually chipper twin hadn't taken well to the hours. "And he's never going to come out."

"Funny you should say that…" Harry ducked low and pulled the girl down with him as he saw the door to Quirrells quarters open and close, permitting the teacher to scurry off down the hall.

"Yes! We've got him. Lets go!" The tiredness had drained from her face and she had regained a grin. She moved off without a word but Harry had started in the opposite direction. "Hey! The third floor corridor is that way!"

"Yeah but we don't know he's going there." Harry held her hand as they walked a roof ridge on the side of a courtyard. "I'm not making the same mistake as the others, I'm not letting him out of my sight." They slid silently down a drainpipe onto a flat roof above the kitchens and Harry saw the turbaned wizard slip out a side door, cross the courtyard, then enter a door leading to the entrance hall.

"Well we can't…" But Harry held up one finger to silence her and a moment later they, heard a door opening and closing then could clearly see the dark shape of the wizards robes as he crossed the grounds towards the forbidden forest. "What do we do now?"

"We watch him." Harry said it without the conviction it usually held and with a good dose of fear in there as well. "You go back and tell the others." But he was surprised when she shook her head.

"No, I'm going with you. You can't go in there alone." She started moving before he had a chance to object. "Besides, I've heard there are centaurs in there. I wouldn't mind seeing a centaur."

*

"Do you know where your going?" Parvarti hadn't seen any centaurs, but there had seen other things skulking between the trees. Harry looked back and wished he would have offered some reassurance. He knew he could find the way _back_, well probably. He had made sure to mark it at regular intervals with cuts on the tree trunks. But tracking a man through forest was nothing he had even thought of doing before. They had entered the forest at about the same spot as Quirrell and Harry had had his hopes boosted by finding a footprint impression in mud nearby but after that nothing.

He was vaguely aware that they should look out for broken twigs or birdsong but the twigs seemed to have no discernable features and the forest was eerily quiet. Except for the things.

"Look at this!" Parvarti was pointing at a leaf nearby. When Harry moved closer he saw what she was pointing at. A silver liquid covered the leaf, it felt slick and greasy under his fingers. Also slightly warm. "And there's more." Again she was right, there was a trail leading across the path they'd been taking more liquid tinged the ground in both directions. "It must have been bleeding!"

"It? What it?"

"The unicorn silly!" Parvarti pointed her burglars lantern back at the leaf. "Oh I cant imagine what could do such a thing! This is unicorn blood Harry, and it looks fresh!"

"It is." Confirmed Harry with a gulp. "Its even still warm." Why are we here? Why did I do this? Why didn't we get the others or tell McGonagall or… Harry tried to keep his face impassive but it was hard.

It was one thing knowing nasty things were out in the forest butchering nice things, quite another to have proof and another still to have them be so close that the blood wouldn't have had time to cool in the night air. He looked at his friend and was suppressed to see no fear in her face, only anger that something would hurt a unicorn.

"But which way did it do?" She shone her light first one way then the other.

"This way." Said Harry in dead tones and pointed at the ground ahead. In the mud there, clear for all to see, was the heel of a boot print. Harry didn't want to admit even to himself that his first instinct on seeing the print was to point the other way. That or run for the hills. "Alright. Close the shutter on the light right down, we can see the blood well enough. And go slow." Parvarti did as she was told and they set off again into the forest. Harry couldn't have told anyone afterwards how long they had walked, it seemed like an eternity. The splashes of blood grew larger and more frequent, the further they went until.

"!" Harry stopped dead and put his hand out flat in front of the other Marauder. There was a glade up ahead, bathed in the gibbous moonlight and the night air carried sounds to them. It sounded like an obscene slurping and gurgling and along with it there were the sounds of faint movement. Harry pointed left, around the edge of the clearing then once again put up a single finger. Silence.

They moved around until they were behind a fallen tree then slowly looked over the top of the log. Through the branches that his them they saw an awful sight. The unicorn was splayed on the floor like it had been run to ground and a cloaked figure hunched over it, drinking its blood out through its wounds.

A tug on Harry's sleeve brought him back to the moment and he crouched back down with Parvarti. Her face was a picture of anger and she mimed jumping over the log while brandishing her lantern. Harry shook his head firmly. What the hell was she thinking? She gestured more firmly then touched her heart and made a pumping motion. What was that supposed to mean? She opened her mouth and mouthed something to him but he couldn't tell what. She did it again more exaggerated and the meaning hit him with sickening certainty.

_"It's still alive!"_  
Harry looked over the log again and saw what he had missed the first time. The Unicorns chest was indeed still moving up and down and its breath disturbed the dust near its head. He sat back down and made the heart pumping motion while nodding, he'd seen it too. Obviously Parvarti wanted to save the creature if possible. Harry stuck his finger in the dirt between them and wrote one word.

HAGRID

Then pointed to her. She nodded, then pointed to him. He smiled and wrote one more word.

DISTRACTION

*

Without further ado he moved further around the clearing so that when he ran he would take the thing away from the direction Parvarti would have to go to get help. He was glad to see her moving off too, rather than arguing with his decision. Harry wrapped the scarf round his head again and tucked it in so it wouldn't unravel. This would do, he thought. No sense waiting around. He got out his wand, took careful aim and yelled

"_Acerbus cuspis!_"

The cloaked figure was caught off guard and some of Harry's faint spears had hit it. It flinched back, more surprised than hurt then an new noise came from its hood, a drawn out hungry sound. Like a snake having a rat dangled in its face. Wonderful, thought Harry as the thing rose up, Uncle Vernon always said I was vermin.

It was as if that thought snapped him out of his fear paralysis and he ran, away from the clearing and the thing. He moved without thinking, feet slamming on solid ground where possible and pushing off roots and mud when not. Harry never looked behind him but he knew the thing was still on him. He moved into new sections of the forest where the trees were different shapes, older, newer, taller, more brush they all shot by him in an instant, too fast for him to see properly. He did notice that they weren't meeting any animals and thought that they were probably scared of the thing behind him.

He reached a thick stand of trees and brush and slipped in sideways. Here he risked a look back. Nothing. Sides? Front? Nothing. Harry allowed himself a controlled breath. It looked like he had lost it. Harry sat for a second on a log and let his legs rest. The tiredness of the past week and the stress of the night caught up to him at once and he sagged against the tree behind him. He didn't know how long he sat there, he may even have fallen asleep but he did know what caused him to come to attention suddenly. A twig breaking nearby. Harry moved slowly and backed away from the source of the sound when a hand grabbed him from behind and swung him around roughly. Harry's fear of attack turned into relief, then quickly back into fear.

"Out for a midnight stroll Potter?"

"Professor Snape." Harry said trying his best to put on a good face. "Thank god you found me."

*

The boy walked in silence in front of him as Snape led him back towards the castle. The charms he'd laced the edges of the forest with had tripped, waking him and warning him that Quirrell had gone on another of his nightly jaunts. But once again the little worm had eluded him and he'd been on his way back when he'd seen Potter in a stand of trees. His mouth felt like twitching into a smile, at least _some_ good could come of tonight's work.

"What are you going to do when we get back to the castle." The boys voice was steadier than he expected. Planning something… Ha! Just like the other Potter this one thought he was _smart_.

"We are going to your head of house. Then to Dumbledore. Then you can explain what you were doing in the forbidden forest after hours." Snape allowed himself a moment of joy then said. "Then you can go back to your room and pack for the train journey back. From which you will never return."

"But what if I've got a good reason for being here?"

"What possible reason could that be?"

"Same reason you are. Following Quirrell." Had that been a shot in the dark? He tried to catch the insufferable child's eyes but he looked straight ahead. "And unlike you I succeeded."

"Quirrell is a fellow teacher. With every right to visit the forest if he so chooses."

"Oh." The scion of his enemy said brightly. "So you wouldn't be interested in what he's doing in there then?"

Insufferable, Worthless, Sneaking, COWARDLY, MANIPULATING!, WORM! Snape took a moment to assemble his thought before turning Potter and looking directly into his eyes. There was a flash, a table, some faces… a frown crossed the boys face for a moment then he shook his head worriedly. Even Snape could not conceal his shock as a blank wall appeared before him, slowly fading over the memories. The boy was an Occlumens! But he couldn't know what he was doing, it must be subconscious! With a flicker of fear his eyes were drawn to the scar on the boys forehead. Or was it entirely subconscious? Power would be transferred in such an event, great power…

"What are you suggesting?" Inside himself he was seething. He so wanted to see the son of James Potter expelled. It would make up for so much but… Quirrell was more important, if there was even the slightest chance the stone could be use to bring back… Potter could wait for another time.

"You forget this ever happened and in one week I'll tell you what I saw tonight." Smug and insufferable. And in this case right.

"Why one week?"

"Because it would look odd if in one week you go to Dumbledore and say 'I caught Harry Potter in the forest a week ago, I just didn't tell you till now.'" They had entered the castle now and were on their way to the common room. They stopped outside the portrait door. "Well?"

"Agreed."

*

Harry breathed again and slipped in through the door. A moment later he was attacked! Visiously and unexpectedly, it took him a moment to realise it was Hermione. She had thrown her arms around his neck and was sobbing against his chest.

"We thought…" She sniffed giving Harry a chance to look around. Everyone was there, including Parvarti. They all looked relived. "That it had… got… you."

"Take it easy alright. I'm alright." Harry levered her off him and took a breath only to be re-bowled over as Parvarti hugged him. "What the?"

"We shouldn't have left you. And it was me who wanted to save it in the first place, I…"

"I. Am. Fine." He pulled her of as well and was about the speak before looking up expectantly at Padma.

"Oh fine if everyone else is doing it." She stood up and hugged him too. Then let out a fake sob and said "And I broke a nail this morning!" Harry grinned and she returned to her place at the table.

"So, now we know what he's doing the next step's to find out why. And what we're gona to do about it."

*

The next few weeks were full of disappointment. Except for the Slytherins who got a temporary reprieve from pranking. Hagrid had saved the unicorn and in thanks for their help he told them all about the properties of unicorn blood and what it could be used for. Snape hadn't been any help, when Harry told him the story a week later he merely nodded and told him to get out. From what they knew they could work out that Quirrell was after immortality but for what reason?

"Maybe he's not after it for himself." Neville had said one day. Harry tried to always treat Neville's suggestions as smart in the hope it would persuade the boy to talk more. "You said he called someone master when he thought he was alone."

"But he _was_ alone Neville." Ron apparently hadn't heard about that plan. "Wait… that's our explanation. He's crazy! Nuts! He's prob'ly talking to his turban!"

"Or he had some sort of magical communicator in his room." Padma said scathingly. "Something he was talking to someone through."

"Oh, yeah." Ron looked down a little sheepishly. Then brightened. "Hey! Maybe if we got our hands on the communicator we could, I don't know, trace it back to this master?"

"That would depend on how sophisticated it is." Hermione's voice came from behind a pile of books, shed already begun revising for the end of year exams and at least some of the other marauders seemed to want to join her. "But Dumbledore could probably do it."

"Alright then." A plan began to form in Harry's mind. "Dumbledore said he had no reason to mistrust Quirrell and Snape's got no proof to show him otherwise. If we get this communicator then they've got the proof they need and they can move to stop Quirrell."

"But Harry. We don't know where the communicator is."

"I know. That's why we're going to burglarize Quirrell."

"Is 'burglarize' even a word." Padma asked.

"The spellchecker seems to think it is."

"What's a spellchecker?"

"it's a charm that detect misspelled words, underlines them in red."

"I really need to revise."

*

But the opportunity didn't come for a long while. Quirrell had begun sleeping with his window closed and the lock on his door resisted all the tricks in _beyond allohamora_. ("I can't believe you gave him that." Hermione had said "Its like giving a monkey the key to the plantation." Ron had shot back "Yeah, or you the key to the library!") and there was nothing to be done but wait and watch for Quirrell to slip up. There was a plus side though. Guard duty gave them plenty of time to revise. Then the exams came, painful and inevitable with the fear and uncertainty that came with them.

The only ones Harry was at any way comfortable about were charms and astronomy, the latter because unlike other classes he actually paid attention and the former because (perhaps due to his Christmas presents) he was genuinely good at the spells. Potions was a nightmare and defence against the dark arts worse. Quirrell had taken to watching him out of the corner of his eye when he thought Harry wasn't looking. Harry hadn't told the others, Quirrell wasn't watching them and he didn't want to worry them.

Even with the exams and their continued failing in their task it was hard to feel bad. The weather had turned to wonderful and students could always be found out sunning themselves on the grass. Harry was just on his way to spend an afternoon in just such a manner (the rest of the marauders already waiting) when he looked up and saw what he had been waiting for for weeks. Quirrells window, open.

Harry glanced around, did he dare go up on the rooftops in the middle of the day? When the whole school would be able to see him. Harry turned to where he knew he could climb up and stopped. Should he get the others? No. Quirrell might return and their only chance would be lost. He quickly scurried up the wall and slipped in through the window.

The room smelled strongly of garlic and indeed there were cloves hanging in various places around the room. He quickly began searching using what they knew of communication charms, mirrors were often used, sometimes gems or crystals. He checked the mirror in the bathroom but it appeared to be the normal kind (no response when tapped with a wand). He was about to check the bedroom when he heard a voice behind him.

"Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly."


	7. Roofs at Night: 6

Harry Potter and the Roofs at Night Chapter 6: Protected

"Well, well, well." Professor Quirrell had lost his stutter and stood in front of the locked door with his wand pointed at Harry's chest. "You do get yourself into a great deal of sticky situations."

"it's a gift." Harry tried not to glance at the window. It was still open, and there were some trees in the courtyard below. He might make it.

"No!" Quirrell flicked his wand and the window banged shut. Another flick and it glowed for a moment, accompanied by a squelching sound. "No, you're not leaving that way Potter." He grabbed Harry's arm, jerked his wand out of his pocket then pulled him to the door. The 1st year could feel the tip of Quirrells wand against the small of his back. "Now walk, calmly and unhurried. To the third floor."

The corridors that were always so full of smiling students were virtually empty now. All of them outside enjoying the sun. The few he saw in the distance too far away to signal to.

"Face forward." Quirrell hissed. "If you attempt to warn anyone then that person dies then you die is that clear?"

"Why are you taking me up there?" Harry tried to convince his brain to work but he seemed to be missing brain cells.

"Oh that's quite simple. Your going to help me, I knew what you and your little friends were up to so I laid a trap. Now you are going to assist me with something, with two things actually. The first is simple, all you have to do is play along. Lie. You're good at that yes? The second is a bit more complex. You see…" They grew close to the corridor and Quirrell pulled him to a stop and into a disused classroom. "I've spent the year devising foolproof ways to get past each defence except one that still eludes me."

"Snape." Good old sneaky bastard Snape.

"Yes Snape." Quirrell drew an odd potion from his robes, it was pitch black and looked oddly oily. "His protection I don't know how to pass but… that is for later. For now? Drink this." He held out the potion. "Just a sip, we only need the effect for a few minutes." Harry hesitated. "Do it! Do it or you die!"

Harry took a tiny sip of the potion and instantly felt the effect. His hands seemed to grow and he pulled off his shoes as the pressure in them increased. Black hair grew down in front of his eyes and he flicked it out of the way. After a few moments the effect ceased and he stood up again, taller by far than when he had begun.

"Ah, wonderful." Quirrell said smiling. "Now put these on." He handed Harry some long dark robes and gestured to the mirror nearby. Harry took them and walked over, stopping for a moment in shock. He looked like Snape! "Get on with it boy!" Harry struggled into the robes then did them up and allowed Quirrell to lead him towards the dreaded corridor. Harry saw professors Flitwick and Sinestra outside the door. Sinestra was sitting cross legged and appeared to be meditating in some way. Quirrell prodded him in the back. Of course, Snape would make the first move. He tried to make his voice as sneering as possible then said.

"We're here to relive you." Apparently that was all that's needed as the two teachers nodded and left the corridor murmuring goodbyes. Quirrell pulled him towards the door. "What if they meet the real Snape? They'll know he's not here."

"Professor Snape was called away unexpectedly." Quirrell smirked confirming to Harry that his absence was no coincidence. "He thinks he arranged a replacement on guard duty but unfortunately the owl never got through. Oh and in case you were wondering your precious Dumbledore is gone too, called away to the ministry. No one can help you."

"I can help me." Harry thought desperately as they entered the room with the giant dog. Its three heads instantly rose to watch them but Quirrell pointed his wand at the floor nearby and a harp appeared. Another complex movement and it began plucking out a simple tune. The great beasts eyelids drooped and it fell quickly asleep.

"Come on boy! I haven't got all day." Quirrell pulled him forwards to the trap door then pulled it open. He whispered a little charm and a rope began curling its way out of his wand. Quirrell seemed to have to concentrate a great deal to pull this off and Harry backed away slowly. He felt some thing behind him and put a hand back to feel. It was the harp. Acting on instinct, Harry grabbed the harp and smashed it as hard as he could against one of the dogs giant paws. The dog awoke with a roar and bit through the harps remains in a single chomp. Then it turned to the other interlopers in its room.

"Boy! What do you think you're…" But then Quirrell was forced to defend himself as the great heads reared up above him. He screeched a single word and fireball smacked one on the nose. Harry took the opportunity and bolted for the door. "I'm not done with you yet Potter!" Quirrell screamed. Harry glanced back in time to see red light, then darkness.

*

"Where the hell is Harry?" Ron glanced back at the castle irritated. "He said he was only gonna be a few minutes."

"Why are you worrying Ron, when you could be sunbathing!" Parvarti stretched out on the ground and sighed happily.

"He's probably just got distracted by something Ron." Hermione was doing her type of sunbathing. With a book. "Honestly, sometimes I think he has a shorter attention span than… than… well than you!"

"I can't believe your reading out here." Ron caught the quaffel thrown to him by Neville then threw it back. "The exams are over Hermione."

"For this year."

"You're actually revising for next years exams?" Ron shook his head then yelled "Hey!" as a quaffel smacked into the side of his head.

"Oh sorry Ron." Padma commented with massive insincerity. "Were you not ready?"

"Oh look the mudblood army seem to be missing a general." The marauders turned en mass to see Malfoy strolling towards them with his hands in his pockets. "Better get used to it though."

"What did you say!" Ron yelled at the same time as Hermione said "What do you mean get used to it?"

"I mean scum," Ron's fists clenched. "That your little hero seems to have finally gotten into more trouble than he can handle. Oh yes, I saw a teacher carting him off. Looked angry too."

"Which teacher?" Padma's question seemed ominously quiet in the open air.

"Professor Quirrell, but don't think that… Hey!" But Ron had grabbed him by the front of his coat, knocking his wand away. The redhead was vaguely aware of his friends surrounding him with wands drawn. Keeping Crabbe and Goyle at bay.

"Where did you see them?" Ron punctuated each word by shaking the Slytherin up and down. "WHERE!"

"Th… Th… Third floor. That corridor with the maypole painting." Ron let him go. That was right next to the dog's room.

"Mr Weasley!" McGonagall was striding across the grounds in anger. "I never expected such violent behaviour from…"

"Professor McGonagall!" Ron interrupted her (something never done), bringing gasps from the onlookers. "Harry Potter's in danger. And so's the Philosophers Stone."

*

"Wake up Mr Potter. Rise and shine for the brand new day." The sentence slid around the black cocoon of Harry's unconscious. "Now now, that won't do. Up!" Pain blossomed in Harry's stomach and the sting of it pulled him back to reality. He drew himself up on the cold stone floor shaking terribly. The long sleeves of his robes fell down over his arms and he realised he was back in his own body. Quirrell aimed another savage kick at Harry's chest and he sprawled on the floor again.

"You think that's pain Potter?" Yep, sure seemed like it, at the very least he had a cracked rib. "I can introduce you to the torture curse if you want. If you choose not to co-operate with me." Harry raised his head wearily and realised that he was in a new room. Fires blocked both doors and on a table in the centre a row of bottles stood, twinkling in the torchlight.

"Wh… where?"

"_The traitors trial_." That hadn't sounded like Quirrell. Harry looked up and saw fear in Quirrells eyes.

"So." Thought Harry. "He has the communicator on him. That must have been his masters voice and whoever the master is he's scared of him."

Quirrell bent over the table and read with a smile…

"_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide  
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;  
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,  
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;  
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._"

The wizard shook his head angrily.

"What kind of a task is that? You don't even need magic. And besides, I've never taken the logical path to get answers. I so prefer the… _experimental_ approach." He picked up one of the bottles at random and held it out to Harry with a sickly grin. "Drink up!"

*

"He's there!" Ron was shouting now. Heedless of the steady stream of rubies that must have been leaving the hourglass in the great hall. "He's there right now having god knows wha…"

"Mr Weasley! If you cannot control yourself I will have you dragged to my office where I will flue your mother! And we will discuss your continued presence at this school!" The argument had moved from the outside to the corridors as the deputy headmistress had failed to listen. "As it is you are all already in enough trouble for just knowing about the stone! Let alone disrespect to a Hogwarts professor. Two professors in fact as I think Professor Quirrell will want to hear about the base accusations you have made."

"But you don't…" Ron was brought to a halt by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Neville holding him back with a terrified look on his face. He shook his head quickly.

"You should listen to your friends Mr Weasley." The professor said while turning and walking down the hall. "Now you will all follow me to my office where we can decide…"

"_Petrificus Totalus_!"

The marauder gang watched in utter silence as their head of house went stiff then slowly but inexorably fell backwards. Ron caught her and lowered her to the floor, ashen faced. He looked round to see Neville standing with his wand out and a horrified expression on his face.

"I… I … I had to…" Neville stuttered without moving. "God, that was like cursing Gran."

Ron looked down at McGonagall face. A person shouldn't be able to evoke fear while only moving their eyes but somehow the set of them said there would be hell to pay.

"Ok then." Padma broke the silence. "Since it seems we're going to get expelled anyway lets go get our boy."

*

"Nil for two Mr Potter!" Harry fell choking on the floor as Quirrell took a sip of the potion he'd just proved was safe. "Still born lucky I see." Harry fell into a fit of coughing that wracked his body with pain. He pulled his head back and idly noticed the blood all over his sleeve. So, more than a cracked rib then.

When he had refused to drink the first bottle Quirrell had used some sort of bludgeoning curse that squashed him back to the floor. As he had lain there vainly trying to get his breath back Quirrell had pulled his head back and tipped the potion down his throat. The second time he had tried to resist more and been formally introduced to the cruciatus curse. He was ashamed to say he willingly took the bottle in shaking hands and drank a sip himself. All the time feeling wretched and a coward.

"Now." Quirrell looked down on him almost proudly. "Since you seem to have learned your place in this little drama." The sadist looked down for a reaction but Harry didn't rise to the bait. He wasn't sure he had the energy too even if he had wanted. "I'll let you chose the next one." He waved his hand over the remaining bottles and stood waiting.

Harry pulled himself up on the edge of the table and tried to bring a brain cell to bear. "Hermione where are you when I need you?" He must have said it out loud because Quirrell laughed and said

"I could get her if you want. I'm sure she'd like to see the cruciatus curse. As a purely academic study. Of course to fully appreciate it I would have to do it on her as well." Harry looked from one bottle to another and a snatch of song came back to him.

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides. _  
Harry's eyes slid to the smallest bottle in the row. His hands shook almost too much for him to take the cork out and he spilled some as he took a sip. An instant cold sensation trickled down his throat and into his arms. But was this the forward potion or the back one? It didn't really matter since Quirrell was between him and the way back, so only one way remained. Harry put his hand to his throat and pretended to choke, falling towards the fire he took a heavy gasping breath.

"_Trickery! Get Him!_" DAMN IT! Harry reacted on instinct and kicked the nearest table leg. One of the remaining potions fell between him and Quirrell, cracking on the floor and bursting into blue-black flame. That was all the distraction Harry needed as he clawed himself off the floor and jumped headfirst into the fire.

The floor on the other side knocked the wind from him but he wasn't burnt. It had been the right potion.

"You will pay for that!" A chain with a hook shoot through the curtain of flames, trailing sparks.

"A blind shot." Harry thought muzzily. "But I can't stay here."

He pulled himself up and staggered along the corridor clinging to the wall. Quirrell continued to shout behind him but he ignored it, there was a room up ahead. He walked in and barely saw the place. All he took in was the tall mirror in the centre, familiar. Without really realising what he was doing he moved towards it and fell to the ground in front of it. Oh, god everything hurt. He looked up into the mirror and saw his friends familiar faces surrounding him, filling the mirror-Harry with warmth and happiness.

"Where are you." Harry spoke to the empty room. He felt himself falling backwards, lonely and broken. "Where are you now?"

He floated in the darkness for a moment then was brought back around. Instinct again waking him when he was no longer alone. He turned to see a charred figure, robes in tatters and his turban unwound and trailing behind him.

"There's always more than one way round a challenge." The voice was cracked and thirsty but full of malice and ire "You just have to think outside the box."

*

"No." Harry pulled himself away from the advancing figure. Forgetting for a moment that there was nowhere to go.

"Yes Potter. What Severus seems to have forgotten…" The wretched figure said as it stalked towards Harry on ruined legs. "Is that I would much _rather_ walk through fire than admit failure to my master. Much, much rather." He came to a stop in front of the Mirror and pointed his blackened wand at Harry.

"No wait, this won't work." He threw the wand away like garbage. "But luckily I have another." He drew out Harry's wand, unblemished and pristine. He laughed at Harry's shocked face and said "Rubbed in what little of the potion you let drop on the floor. It was bound to survive better than mine. After all, phoenix feathers are meant to pass through fire." He flicked the wand negligently and ropes bound Harry's legs under him.

"Yes, you left just enough for the wand and for…" His hand rose involuntarily to the back of his head and a quiver of pain ran across his face. "But enough!" He stood in front of the mirror, his anticipation clear on his face. "I see myself presenting the stone to my master. He is restoring my body, making me well again… But how do I get it?"

"_Use the boy_." Quirrell grabbed his arm and jerked him back in front of the mirror. The images swam in pain in front of him. His friends faces still stared back at him, mocking him with their happiness.

"Well boy? What do you see?"

"Well…" Harry though. "…since I seem to be dieing anyway…"

"I see myself you charred bastard. It's a_ mirror_."

"_Crucio!_" Pain obliterated the world again but soon enough he was shook awake and slammed in front of the glass.

"What do you really SEE!"

"I've just found every chocolate frog card. My collection is complete."

"Do you enjoy pain?" Quirrell's face was twisted beyond recognition. "Do you think even for a moment that your petty defiance will actually achieve anything!"

"Alright fine." Harry brought a rictus grin to his face "I see Hagrid with a giant spiked baseball bat. He's sticking it right up your…" the world once again dissolved into pain.

*

"A chess set, what the…"

"Oh god look here on the floor… Blood."

"Do you think he..?"

"No time for this! We need to move!"

*

Harry floated again on the ocean of agony. But this time he wasn't alone.

_Brave, or maybe simply foolish. _  
That voice again. The master.

_Your parents were brave Harry Potter. It didn't do them any good either. _  
"Oh so you know my parents too. Got any good anecdotes?" He wasn't sure if he said that out loud but the voice laughed.

_Oh yes. Joking in the face of pain. That is something I think your father would do. _  
"Yeah." Harry said as the world began to swim back into focus. "But I've got my mothers eyes." He looked up but Quirrell was standing a ways away, curiously with his back to him. Harry groped around for his glasses.

"_There by your elbow._" The voice almost had a teasing tone to it now but Harry was struck by a single question. How did he know? He pulled his glasses back on and was met by his horrific answer.

"_Yes Harry._" The face spoke with malice now, and barely controlled anger. "_This is what you reduced me to. Ten years ago._"

"Oh my god." Harry gulped as he realised the truth. "Voldemort."

"_Yes Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort. Now do what you are told and tell me what you see in the mirror._"

Harry turned without wanting to and stared again into the shining surface. The faces stared back, laughing and happy.

"Their probably still out on the grass." Thought Harry. The Ron in the mirror patted him on the back. "They don't know about this evil. This darkness. They haven't seen it. They don't have to deal with it. And they shouldn't need to."

"I see…"

"_Yes… yes!_"

"I see… stars." Harry smiled and flung himself at the mirror.

The crashing sound echoed through the hall and Harry felt glass shards cut into his skin. He tried to roll but a sharp pain in his arm caught him and he stopped, quivering.

"_You FOOL._" He felt himself picked up and shook like a doll. "_You destroyed it!_" He fell to the ground again and saw Quirrell rifling through the shards, heedless of the cuts and blood. "_Where is it! Where is it!… Gone… You knew!_" The double head came up and looked him straight in the eye. "_You knew that wouldn't release the stone!_"

"Dumbledore told me." Suddenly Harry actually did feel like laughing. "But on the minus side, that should be seven years bad luck."

"_You.. YOU!_" The double creature stood quivering with rage. "_Well I hope you savour your victory._" The thing drew Harry's wand "_Because, it is the last thought you will ever have! Avada Ked…_"

"_Tarantella!_"

The jinx spun over the creatures head and broke against the far wall. Harry turned to the door and saw the Marauders standing there. Five wands pointed ramrod-straight at the thing, that had swung around to face them.

"Children." Quirrell's voice again. They probably hadn't even seen the other face. "What are you doing here? This area is forbidden."

"Put the wand down." Ron's voice quaked a little as he said it. But he kept his wand trained. "Wand down now!"

"You wouldn't hex a teacher would you." Quirrell was playing with them. His voice was just like it had been when he'd forced the drink on Harry. "You'd get in so much trouble."

"I've already petrified my head of house." Neville seemed to have left his stutter in the world of fear and could speak calmly now he'd moved on to terror. "It can't get much worse."

"You think not? Then perhaps I should be talking out of the other side of my face." Quirrell turned on his axis and Parvarti shrieked.

"_Children!_" Quirrells arms twisted back, cracking round at the elbows to give Voldemort control of the wand "_I will not be stopped again by children!_"

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" Hermione's voice rang out but Voldemort raised a shield disdainfully. The rebounding curse took the young witch in the chest and she fell like a stone.

"_Crucio!_" Neville dropped to the ground. His face a mask of pain.

"_Crucio!_" Padma fell, her arms wrapped around her chest. Screaming. He was still playing with them. He could cause death as easily as pain.

"_Crucio!_" Ron fell in his tracks. He had tried to charge the creature.

"_Im… im… impedimenta!_"

"_Crucio!_" Parvati's spell died on her wand and she fell beside her sister. He had to do something. He had no wand. He had no weapon… He had glass. Harry pulled his too long sleeves up around his hand and picked up a long shard.

"_Pathetic creatures._" The face spat the words. "_Unworthy of life!_" Harry stepped closer careful not to disturb the glass on the floor. "_You will all die! For defying Lord Voldemort. You will…_"

"Master look out!" But Quirrell's warning was too late as the long shard plunged into his stomach. Him and his attacker fell together and Harry jerked the glass out only to plunge it again into the wizards flesh. His hands bled, the fabric of the robes hadn't been nearly enough to protect them. Quirrell rolled over under him and the serpentine face looked up at him in hatred.

"_You cannot destroy me Harry Potter. I cannot die! Whatever you do I will return!_"

"Fine then snake-face." Harry raised the shard above his head. "See you in another ten years. Do try to come back pretty next time." And plunged the shard through Voldemort's eye.

The scream rung out through the chamber. Rising higher and higher, louder and louder till the shards still on the floor shattered into sand. Then the body slumped like a rag doll and finally lay still.

Harry fell back drained. It felt like he had nothing left in his veins, felt empty. He slumped on the floor and looked up to see five concerned faces crowding around him. They were saying something but his mind couldn't quite make sense of it. The image suddenly reminded him of something and he pointed at them with a shaky hand.

"Stupid mirror." He laughed. "I thought I broke you?" Then the darkness rolled over again and he didn't see a thing.

*

"I could just take the one…"

"Ron people left those for Harry!"

Voices?…

"But I just want the card."

Familiar…

"It'll try to hop away when you open it!"

"Oh please that's what he's planning. Then he'll 'have' to eat it."

Ah…

"Maybe I'll just take a cauldron cake…"

"You so much as try it…" Harry pulled his eyes open with an effort. "…and I'll hex ya fingers off."

"Harry!" The marauders crowded around the hospital bed. "You awake?"

"Well yeah." Harry shook his head to clear it before answering Hermione's question. "Why would I not be? How long was I asleep?"

"Days I'm afraid mate." Ron shook his head ruefully. "They had to give you sleeping potion while everything healed. Did you know you broke your arm?"

It had hurt when he rolled over, but surely he would have noticed?

"How'd you follow me?" Harry groggily shook his head again. "I swear all the potion got drunk."

"Dumbledore said they regenerate." Hermione answered smiling. "We had to go through the chess pieces too."

"Ron was amazing." Parvati said beaming. Ron blushed and said

"Oh that, that was nothing. Anyway it was Neville got us past the devil snare!"

"Devil snares easy. Anyway you got the key."

"That was a team effort. The twins were up there too. Plus Padma worked out the dog."

"There was a broken harp on the floor. What else could it have been but music?"

"I don't know, its allergic to harps?"

"Children." The 1st years turned as Albus Dumbledore stepped into the hospital wing. "I cannot imagine how pleased you must be that your friend is awake however," He continued with a twinkle in his eye as he peered over his spectacles "…it will mean that you will have to find a new source of chocolate frogs." Ron at least had the decency to look guilty. "Now, if you would give us some privacy I would like to speak to your friend." The marauders filed out and Harry was left alone with the Headmaster.

"The mirror." Harry began, "Was it… valuable?"

"Irreplaceable." Harry's stomach seemed to fall out his body. "It's a good thing it is being repaired."

"You could have told me that bit!" Harry shook his head as he regained his stomach.

"Although they may leave one shard out. It may need to be kept for posterity."

"So is he… gone then?" Harry's voice was hopeful but something in him already knew the answer.

"Nothing about this death was any different from his previous one. If he survived that I believe we can assume he can survive this."

"Will he come after the stone? I mean, when you fix the mirror you can get the stone?"

"Yes, and it will be destroyed." Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "But it appears I was wrong about one thing Harry."

"Hireling a man who was _literally_ two-faced?"

"No Harry." Dumbledore fixed him with a patient stare and Harry bit back a grin. "I mean that you were unable to get past my last protection. You did not get the stone."

"Yeah. What was I supposed to do?"

"When you saw yourself in the mirror there. What did you see?"

"The same thing as before." Harry shifted uncomfortably "You know, friends."

"So faced with the prospects of eternal life and unending wealth, your dream remained the same?"

"I have a great deal of wealth now, and if eternal life means being someone's scalp I think I'll pass on that too."

"Very well Harry. I will not pry any further. But there is something else that we need to discuss before I let your friend back in to bicker further."

"Hm?"

"I want you to return to your aunt and uncles house."

"No."

"Harry, I can assure…"

"No. The answer is no Professor." Harry looked directly into the Headmasters glittering gaze. "I will not."

"You are eleven Harry." Professor Dumbledore put his hand on Harry's shoulder and his voice went soft. "It would be negligent of me to let you leave my care without assuring myself that you would be looked after."

"You did it once before. Left me on a doorstep." a sliver of steel entered Harry's voice.

"I thought that you would be happier with family, even distant ones."

"You were wrong. Would you like to see some scars by way of proof?"

"No Harry, I see I cannot sway you on this score. I will arrange for you to stay at Hogwarts over the summer, it has been done before in certain circumstances."

"Thank you." Harry smiled and he saw a certain tension lift from the air. Harry looked down at the gifts arrayed in front of him and picked up one. "Chocolate frog? Go on, otherwise Ron'll just take all of them."

"Thank you Harry." Dumbledore took the squirming confection and stood up. "Now I shall just visit this wings other resident then leave you to yourself."

"Who?" Harry looked around and spotted a pair of slippers poking out from behind a curtain. "Who'zat? They Ok?"

"Oh they'll recover quite soon." Dumbledore seemed to find something in this slightly funny. "She's just sleeping off an improperly formed Petrificus curse."

"Oh." Said Harry uninterested. "How soon will she get better?"

"Hopefully _after_ your friends leave."

*

"Last chance for legal magic!" Fred (or George) yelled as he walked down the Hogwarts express. His brother walked beside him ringing a hand-bell up and down. "I repeat! Last chance for all summer!"

"You heard that Harry?" Ron said as his brothers walked past the marauders carriage.

"Yep." And indeed he could see the London skyline around the train as they pulled towards kings cross. He had asked Dumbledore if he could accompany his friends on the train and the Headmaster had agreed.

"You gonna be alright over the summer on your own Harry?" Parvarti leaned over considered him quietly. "You'll write everyone right?"

"And you have to visit home." Ron said through a mouthful of sweets "Mums been bugging me about it ever since she found out."

"May just take you up on that Ron." Harry stretched as the train drew into the station. "Oh, and before magic becomes illegal…" Harry took a small parcel out of his pocket, tapped it and pulled back as his bag expanded to full size.

"You brought your bag? Why did you bring your bag…" Hermione's voice became shrill and a little scared. But the question was moot, everyone in the carriage had guessed the answer.

"Oh, come on guys." Harry shot them a grin and slid out of the carriage. "Don't tell me you didn't see this coming?"

"Harry! The hero of the wizarding world cannot just go AWOL!" Padma shook her head in disbelief. "Dumbledore will find you, or the ministry."

"The ministry can only track me if I use magic." Harry said jumping down onto the platform. "And distance counts too, I'm thinking Greece or possibly Spain. Mediterranean certainly."

"You'll never get away with this Harry." Hermione spoke but all for some reason didn't quite believe it. The marauders stood in a semicircle around Harry with several versions of disbelief on their faces. But after a year they had realised that Harry mostly made his own rules.

"What they gonna do? Arrest their shining hero?" Harry winked and smiled his evil genius smile. "And I've realised something. Being a homeless vagabond sounds a whole lot more fun if you've got a giant pile of gold underground to fall back on. It'll just be like going somewhere fun, to have fun."

"I think that's called a vacation Harry."

"Right, that." Harry pointed and nodded. "I think I'm due one of those." He turned and began walking down the platform. "Write every day! But no traceable addresses!"

"HARRY POTTER YOU GET BACK HERE!"

"Gotta go." Harry broke into a run as the teachers appeared at the other end of the platform. He dodged between groups of students as the yells got closer and shot between carts. He saw his chance, launched himself like a catapult off the trunk of an astonished student and dived through the barrier. He kept running through Kings Cross, past groups of astonished muggles. Running for freedom.

*

"Think he'll lose 'em?"

"Oh, Neville you know the answer to that." Padma smiled at the chaos Harry had left in his wake on the platform. "It's the marauders first rule. 'You can do anything you set your mind to if you've got the nerve to see it through.'"

"I thought that was 'Never get caught'?"

"That one too."


	8. Blood War: 1

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 1: The Seer, The Strongman and the Little Sister

Harry Potter stepped back onto British soil with a spring in his step and a tan fit to blind seagulls. Officially there was not direct magical path across the channel save by broom or other tool of flight. However Harry had known before he had ever held a wand that the most useful things were always hidden from those in charge.

It had been by this ancient fireplace, disconnected from the rest of the flue network but with a direct link to a similar holes and portals around Europe, through which Harry had left the country weeks ago. An eleven year old cannot book a plane ticket alone much less hitch a lift on a broomstick and even if he could do so those ways had probably been watched.

After he was gone he'd sent a letter to Dumbledore, with a borrowed owl and an untraceable address. He'd received a stern one in reply. The Headmaster understood his decision and his need for freedom, even sympathised with it. But Harry needed to be kept safe, protected.

But to Harry protected meant trapped and the reason he needed to be kept safe was the very thing he needed some freedom from. So Harry Potter had spent the majority of the summer as Jack Match, juggler and tumbler on various Grecian beaches. He had explored the wizarding side of the ancient country too, he had watched a school of hippocampus breaching and jumping like dolphins off the coast of Aeaea and seen the colossus of Rhodes. He had walked to the Temple of Alcmeonidae at Delphi and climbed hand-over-hand up the long trailing vines of ivy to where it floated in the sky. Levitated above the _'ruins'_ below and concealed from muggle eyes. But the seers that gathered there had seen through his disguise and greeted him as Harry Potter. They had treated him with an eerie respect and he had been taken to have tea with the current oracle. It was a meeting he would never forget…

"Sit dear one." She led him to a cushion on the floor and sat down herself nearby him. She looked like she was barely a year or two older than him but he knew that if he believed that he was a fool. Only her eyes betrayed any hint that this was possibly the most powerful seer in the world. Harry had been shocked when he first saw them, he had heard stories that the greatest seers had milky white eyes showing that they were blind to the mundane. The oracles eyes were normal except that the iris of one was deep purple and the other light green. Oh and the pupils (and Harry had had to look hard to make this out) were shaped like stars.

"Thank you Pythea." Pythea wasn't her name, the oracles held it as a title in honour of the first. "But you really don't have to do any of this."

"It is not very often we receive visitors." She smiled at him with those deep eyes. Something in them betrayed a lasting sadness, a hint of the memory concealed behind. Memory that spanned centuries.

"If you wish to encourage more visitors your grace. Perhaps you should install stairs." He instantly felt that perhaps he was being too familiar. Harry generally ignored authority but the quiet power of the small girl before him (even sitting as she was, barefoot in a simple white dress) was hard to deny. Anyway he didn't he didn't want there to be stairs. Too many people, especially too many tourists, would ruin this peaceful place.

"Yes, that is why we do not have them. And no, I prefer that you speak freely before me." Harry looked up confused and she laughed. It sounded like falling water. "Your occlumency is quite good for one doing it unconsciously. But access to thoughts is one of the gifts that comes with being… this." The sadness was back in her eyes for a moment then she reached forward and poured him a glass of water out of a tall fluted jug.

"Thank you." Harry took it and sipped it. It smelled like mountain air. He grinned and looked down at it speculatively. "Is this going to make me see visions or pass out?"

"Those things are more likely to happen if you do not drink it seeing as you climbed for half an hour in the summer sun."

"Mad dogs and so on…" Harry took another gulp of the scented drink and asked. "But, why did you invite me up here? Why am I sitting, joking, with the greatest seer in the world."

"I wanted to meet you myself. I've heard about you of course, the boy who lived. You are not what I expected."

"Oh." Harry looked down guiltily. He knew he was a bit of a disappointing hero but coming from her it seemed worse.

"You are anything but a disappointment Harry. I think you are equal to the task ahead of you, more than equal. I look into your soul and what I see gives me great hope. You are more than you think you are Harry, you are far more than you, or anyone else, realises. You must trust that you know the path you need to walk, not anyone else, and above all you must trust yourself."

"Really." Harry's throat was suddenly very dry. He took another gulp of water. "Anything else?"

"I like your eyes."

Harry coughed and spluttered and the little seer laughed. He realised she was teasing him.

"You're a brat!" He sniped at her.

"Am I?" She seemed to look far away for a moment then come back down to earth. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're teasing me! You're a seer, aren't you supposed to be telling me my future or something?"

"Do you really want to know?" She seemed amused. "Really?" Harry thought about it for a moment.

"No. No, if I knew what was gonna happen it wouldn't be any fun."

"Good." She smiled. "Good choice. But I think I will give you something anyway. In exchange for a future not told." She dipped her hand into a pocket of her dress and drew out a pendant on a braided leather cord. Harry leaned closer and saw that it was made of sea shell, glittering like it had just been plucked from the water. She held it out towards him.

"Hair please." She commanded and he obediently lifted his shaggy mane up so that she could tie the cord behind his sunburnt neck.

"What is it?" Harry lifted the shell to look at it closer but it didn't have any markings at all. It looked like it was made of two pointed spiral shells, hanging vertical from its clasp. Harry looked closer and saw that the very bottom point was tinged green and the very top tinged purple. "Is it magic?"

"Yes."

"Are you gonna tell me what it does?"

"No."

"Meany." Harry tucked the pendent into his t-shirt and felt it drop down near his heart.

"You'll find out what it does eventually. But you will have to learn a few things for yourself before you do. Call it a little piece of your future." She took his hand and raised him to his feet. "Now I am afraid I must say goodbye. The duties of my office call." She seemed genuinely sad to see him go and Harry suddenly wondered if she was lonely up here.

Not trusting himself to speak Harry bowed for the first time in his life and walked towards the door.

"Oh and when you go back to Hogwarts." The little girl said as he reached for the handle. "Could you tell Sybill Trelawney to stop owling me. Please?"

Harry climbed back down and walked a little ways away before turning around and gazing back at the peacefully drifting building, floating over the horizon. Digger flapped down on a rock next to him and handed him a letter. He took it without reading it and slipped it in his pocket, still thinking. Then he walked over to a clump of flowers sprouting out of the stone nearby and picked some of the larger ones.

"Up there please." Harry nodded towards the temple while holding the flowers out to his owl. "Pythea. And be careful." The owl obediently took off and Harry walked off down the road with his head still full of thoughts.

It had not been long after that when he found his way to the krybo-lakkos market in Athens and to the odd pottery chimney that connected to the under-flue and that could get him home.

*

"Five Galleon's. Here." The shopkeeper pointed to a pot next to his cash register. Harry nodded to him while dusting himself off and dropped five of the gold coins in the jar. This holiday had cost him surprisingly little, tourists had liked his juggling on the beaches and liked his witty remarks even more. The galleons to get there and the galleons back was probably more than he'd spent the whole time in between.

Harry stepped out into a dingy alley and set off away from the shop. Walking quickly he made for the lighter end of the street where he could hear more people moving. People turned to stare at his bright summery clothing in the dark and shadowed street and he heard grumbling and muttering. A bony hand fell on his shoulder and he broke into a run. Shadowy figures leapt out at him and more hands tried to gain purchase, Harry broke off as his way ahead was blocked and he sprinted down a side street. He could see the bright sounds of diagonally ahead of him and sprinted as hard as he could.

Suddenly he hit what felt like a rubber wall, picking him up and bouncing him back into the darkness.

"What the…?" But there was no time to think. Figures were closing in and Harry dove in the opposite direction. He slipped down another road.

More cloaked bodies seemed to pop out of every shadow. The small boy dodged down another street and found himself at a dead end. The entrance to the alley was blocked by a small crowd, five or so wizards and witches in dark ragged robes blocked his way back.

Harry slipped his wand out of his pocket into his right hand. His eyes scanned the walls around him but they were straight up and down. No handholds. The crowd advanced on him with hands out. Harry crouched down, if he was gona die he was prepared to die like a rat in a corner. Biting and scratching till the last.

"What have we here?" A scabby and dishevelled witch said with a cackle. "Kids shouldn't be in knockturn alley. Something _bad_ could happen." She reached out towards him and Harry's hand tightened on his wand.

"Stand aside hag!" A flash of red light shot from the other end of the alley and the witches hair burst into flame.

She shrieked and jumped away while the others tried to put out the fire. This left Harry with a clear view down the alley to the man standing there, his long wand out.

"Never fear young rascal!" The man said in a booming voice. "Markus Michelson is here!"

*

"Who in the… Hey!" Harry tried to object but the man had reached him in three long strides and picked him up with one hand. "Put me down! Put me down!"

"Quiet down pipsqueak." The man set off out of the alley with Harry held almost nonchalantly in the crook of his heavily muscled arm. "You're in safe hands now."

Harry tried to pry the fingers off of him but the mans grip was like a vice. Harry continued to struggle until they got out into the safer haven of diagonally and he was dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

"For someone being rescued by the greatest warrior, adventurer, lover and explorer that the world has ever known." The man put his fists on his hips and bent down to put his face near Harry's. "You sure don't seem to know how show you're grateful."

Harry sat up and checked himself over before replying. For a moment his hand rested on the leather cord around his neck then he looked up and responded.

"Yeah, sorry. Thank you. Thanks." The man reached out a hand and pulled Harry to his feet.

"Not to worry. I'd imagine getting stuck down a dead end in knockturn alley is a little frightening for someone not as… imposing… as me." He tucked his wand in his belt and Harry looked him up and down. Even without taking his hat into account the man was easily seven feet tall and had shoulders like a ox. He wore thick leather boots and leather trousers above them, fitting tightly over muscled legs. The belt was snake skin and he had what looked like animal teeth tied hanging off it so they clattered as he moved. Above that he wore a form fitting red vest that left his arms bare. Harry could see the edge of a tattoo peeking up amongst his chest hair and another on his bicep. Further down his arms he wore two spike bands. To top it all off the man wore a cowboy hat over his thick blond hair with a long red feather tucked into the band on one side and three rifle bullets on the other.

"Who _are_ you?"

"Thought I introduced myself before. Never mind, probably slipped your mind in all the excitement." The man struck a pose. "I am Markus Maximus Michelson. Happy to make your acquaintance pipsqueak."

"My _name_ is Harry." Odd to hear that after a summer of Jack.

"Good to meet you little Harry. Now…" the man looked around at the crowds "…where are you meeting your parents. Can't leave you alone out here since you seem to attract trouble. You little tyke." He ruffled Harry's hair as if he was a little kid, earning himself Harry's eternal hatred.

"…um. The ice cream place." Harry lied with a straight face. "Their probably waiting."

"Good, good." The man grabbed his arm again and set a brisk pace through the crowd. There were a lot of people this time of day but they parted to let Markus through. Harry had hoped that when they reached Fortescue's ice cream parlour the odd wizard would leave him alone. He did nothing of the sort however and sat down at a table, leaning far back on his chair and tucking his thumb in his belt loop. Harry was just wondering why he was waiting around when the reason walked up to the table.

"Can I get you anything Mr Michelson." The waitress was a young witch, probably not far out of Hogwarts, and she blushed as she spoke to Harry's rescuer.

"My little friend here needs a chocolate Sunday to calm him down. He's just been in a bit of a sticky situation down knockturn alley. For myself just seeing you smile is all the sweet I need, and please…" he plucked a yellow daisy out of air and set it behind the girls ear "…call me Maximus."

"You helped him?"

"Oh no." Thought Harry. "She was here last summer. She knows who I am."

"You saved Harry Potter! Oh, you're so brave and like, strong!"

"Harry Potter..?" The man looked at him for a moment with a light smile then turned back "Yes I did. And yes, I am rather strong. Mighty is my middle name." The girl swooned and rushed off to get Harry's ice cream. When she was gone the man turned back and fixed him with the smile again. Harry crossed his arms.

"Thought your middle name was Maximus."

"Nope, Mighty." The man flexed his bicep and Harry was able to read the tattoo there. It was five Ms written one after another. The man pointed at the it with his other hand. "Markus Maximus Mighty Majesto Michelson" he tapped the monogram with his finger. "But the first of my middle names is my personal favourite. So these parents that we're waiting for…"

"My friends parents." Harry fabricated. "I'm living with them this summer. I didn't explain because I prefer to go under the radar a bit, you know."

"Can't honestly say I do little man." Harry's sunday appeared and he began eating it quickly. "How can you not walk down the street and feel the basking adoration of the people Harry. I owe it to my legend to be seen, in the hope that I inspire young pups like you to become just like me. Its my duty Harry, as a man."

"Oooo." The waitress had stuck around to listen to Marcus speak and was now holding her hands clasped together over her chest. "You're so smart as well as so hansom. You're like a poet or a radio star or something."

Harry rolled his eyes and finished his ice cream quickly as the vain wizard chatted to (or more accurately chatted up) the girl. Harry dropped the price of the meal on the table.

"Ah, there they are." Harry pointed off in a random direction and got up. "See you."

"Sure I will Harry." The man said cryptically before turning back to the other object of his attention.

*

Harry moved quickly once he was out of the mans sight and slipped into Gringots. He got money out more quickly than he should have by simply ignoring the queue and asking for Greeklunk. His old goblin acquaintance quickly helped him refill his pouch for another year. While he was down in the vault Harry stuck his t-shirt in his bag and instead took out a long robe with a hood. At Greeklunk's confused expression he said…

"Someone back up on the street that I'd rather didn't recognise me."

"Oh right. Bloody paparazzi."

Harry stepped back out into the street and did his school shopping quickly. When he walked back past Fortescue's the wizard was still there, showing the waitress a long scar on his arm.

*

Harry stood in the country lane and rechecked the letter he held in his hand. He was sure he was at least in the right village and probably on the right road. It was just that the road went a long way in both directions and Ron's advice on getting to his house had been rather vague. Like he'd only really seen the surrounding countryside from the air. Harry folded the letter away and shrugged, there was always another way. He walked over to a where a farmer was sitting near his tractor, fiddling with something in the engine.

"Hi. I'm looking for the family of ginger people who keep owls as pets."

"Down the lane, turn left at the co-op." The man said without looking up. "And tell the man I need my wrench back."

*

Harry had to resist the urge to break into a run as he caught sight of the Weasley house. Outside it in the overgrown garden he could see three boy working, flinging something he couldn't make out over the garden wall. Harry smiled, they were expecting him today but he hadn't exactly been able to give them an exact time. As he walked closer the door to the house opened and Molly Weasley (Ron had told him all about his family) emerged, carrying a tray with drinks on it. Behind her a young girl (must be Ginny) stepped outside and leaned against the doorpost looking bored. None of them seemed to have noticed him yet, or maybe the tan had changed his appearance a bit. As he stepped up to the front gate he spread his arms wide.

"Aloha!"

"Harry!" Ron jumped in surprise "You're here." The twins jumped up too and ran to meet him, but the most extreme reaction came from the youngest Weasley. Ginny went dead white under her hair and her mouth seemed to move as if she was trying to say something then she bolted through the still open door.

"She has some sort of objection to aloha?" Harry asked the ginger crowd.

"Nah, mate." Ron shook his head. "She's been jumping and squeaking every time we so much as mentioned your name. Guess you in the flesh was just too much for her."

"Ron, be nice to your sister." Mrs Weasley's voice was stern for a moment then turned soft again as she turned back to Harry. "She's just shy Harry. I'm sure she'll get over it the more she sees of you."

"Probably." Agreed Harry "The hero thing doesn't last. I've been told on repeated occasions that I'm a massive disappointment."

"Who told you that?" Molly Weasley looked aghast.

"Snape."

"Yeah but he said you had floberworms for brains too." Said Ron. "And we're fairly sure that's not true."

"Right." Chimed in one of the twins. "We're pretty certain they're doxy droppings."

"At least that's up the evolutionary scale."

*

But Ginny's odd behaviour didn't stop. Harry found that she was incapable of staying in a room that he was in and that any attempt to speak directly to her was enough to send her scurrying away. One morning when he came down and found her curled up on the sofa with a magazine he decided to put a stop to it.

"Ginny." She stiffened and looked like she was about to flee. "Don't run away please." He walked around and sat next to her on the couch. She looked like a small rodent confronted by a snake, eyes wide open and too scared to run. "Can you tell me why you run every time I try to talk to you or enter the room?" Silence, except for the twitching she could have been petrified. "Look Ginny I don't know what it is but could you please talk to me. We're going to be going to school together for the next six years. Could you talk to me. Please."

"Y… you…" Harry had to strain to hear her faint whisper. "you destroyed you-know-who."

"Oh you're still thinking about that?" Harry waved his hand dismissively. "That happened ages and ages ago. No one cares about that. Apparently Markus Mandy Michelson is everyone's hero now."

"You've got the scar."

"I've got a lot of scars. Which one in specific?" Ginny reached out to point at his forehead and Harry brushed away the hair to reveal the scar. But apparently this was too much for Ginny and she bolted up the stairs almost knocking over Ron.

"What's that about?" He asked sleepily.

"She's still shy around me. That sucks."

"Why are you so messed up about it." Ron asked. Then looked up as if he remembered something. "You were acting like this about Hermione too, last year. Back before she liked us."

"And that turned out OK."

"You're not gonna climb up a chimney again are you Harry?"

"No Ron but I think I do think I need to take drastic action to correct this situation." Harry thought for a moment then latched onto a brilliant plan. An amazing plan. Possibly the greatest plan he had ever devised. "You have a few brooms here right?"

"Five last time I looked. My old one, the twins, Percy's and one Charlie left here."

"Excellent. I would like to play some Quidditch."

"But Harry you can't play Quidditch. The last time you got on a broom you made a complete fool of yourself."

"Exactly!"

*

This was the worst plan he had ever come up with.

"You have to follow through." Ron made a jabbing motion with the flat of his hand. That meant _follow through_ Harry knew, the hand signals were about all he'd picked up during the game. "Just concentrate on following through. That was the problem that time."

"No Ron, the problem was that I flew into a tree." Harry tumbled to the ground and spat out a leaf. "What's the signal for _'You're about to fly into a tree'_?"

"There isn't one, we'd have to invent it just for you." Ron helped him back on his broom and they flew back up to join the twins. Ginny was sitting a little ways away watching them, when Harry had fallen out of the tree she had jumped up in shock. But as Ron and the twins had begun laughing at him he had seen a shadow of a smile cross her face as well. That shadow was all that was keeping him from giving up the entire endeavour and getting his feet back on solid ground.

"Right." Ron said as they hovered at their end of the pitch. "You make for the right hand side. I'll pull them off to the left then pass it to you. Then you can score. Got it?"

"Aye aye Captain!" Harry saluted and almost overbalanced.

"Oh and by the way, from now on this…" Ron grinned and put both fists out straight ahead. "… from now on that means tree."

"I would punch you Ron, but I'd fall off if I tried." Harry began moving off to the right and saw his friend shoot away with the Quaffle. After a moment Ron turned and chucked it ahead of him. He rushed forward to catch it, fumbled it, then snagged it in one hand.

"I got it! I got…" Thump!

Harry struck the ground hard and rolled to a stop in the long grass.

"Ow." Harry put his hand to the back of his head and sat up. Looking right into the face of Ginny Weasley. She had run over to see if he was alright and now stood, wide eyed before him.

"There didn't used to be four of you." Harry pointed at her with a shaking hand. "Stop being four of you, person… girl… Where am I?" Harry blinked and looked around blurrily. A small noise brought him back to the present and he looked forward. Ginny had her hand over her mouth and was trying hard not to laugh. Little sounds kept escaping like steam out of a kettle.

"You've got steam in your mouth!" Harry tried to get up and fell back on his behind. "Like water but… broken. Where are my glasses? The four of you should be able to find them." And with that Ginny burst out laughing.

The four Weasley's carried him off the pitch and Fred and George (who seemed to have experience with head injuries for some reason) pronounced him fine.

"Maybe we should take a break." Ron said worriedly. "You know, give him time to recover."

"Better idea." Harry tossed his broom to Ginny. "You take my spot. I am never ever ever ever ever _ever_ getting on one of those again. From now on I walk where I need to go."

"Hey! I don't want her on my team." Ron said angrily. "That's not fair when we're already behind!"

"_Ron…_" Harry pitched his voice to match Mrs Weasley's "_Be nice to your sister!_ And besides, your choices are me or her."

"Welcome to the team Ginny."

*

"See! No one can beat my team!" Harry grinned and slapped his chest as the game drew to an official close.

"What do you mean _your_ team." Ginny glided past him smiling and laughing. "When you went off you were eight goals down. How can you say you won?"

"The _team_ won." Harry explained with sweeping hand gestures. "And we all played a part in that."

"And your part is?"

"Cheerleader. I really should get some pompoms."


	9. Blood War: 2

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 2: A Different Sort of Sorting

Kings cross was crowded beyond belief as the Weasley clan crossed the station towards platform nine and three quarters.

"Hurry up." Mrs Weasley herded her various charges towards the barrier. "Right. Come everyone, while the muggles aren't looking." One by one the redheads shot through the barrier. Harry waited until last, as the summer had drawn to a close he had wondered if perhaps he might not be let back into the school. He had got the book list but perhaps that had been automatic.

"You go first. I'm fine." Harry motioned Mrs Weasley ahead of him. "I want to enjoy my last moment of freedom." She disappeared through the barrier and Harry took a deep breath. There wasn't much more he could do to put this off. He started running forwards, lowered his head and closed his eyes as he reached the barrier.

Crack! Harry bounced back and fell to the ground gasping. The barrier hadn't opened! He put his hand to his forehead and it came back bloody. His mind reeled.

"They don't want me back." Harry blinked and looked up at the clock. Less than a minute till the train was supposed to leave. "They expelled me."

Harry stayed on the floor despite the odd looks he was getting. There didn't seem to be much point in getting up. The clock ticked over the hour. The train was leaving.

Harry looked down platform ten and thought he saw a wisp of smoke rise from beyond the tracks. Where was the wizards platform anyway? A mad idea struck Harry and he was stood back up in a flash. His feet seemed to move of their own accord and he took first one then another halting step along the platform. Another wisp of smoke. He broke into a run and willed his legs to carry him faster and faster.

"it's a steam train." Harry dodged past a startled conductor at the end of the platform and jumped down onto the tracks. "It takes a while to speed up." He pumped his legs for extra speed.

"Digger!" Harry reached onto his backpack and flicked his owl's cage open. "Catch me up at Hogwarts!" Harry shot to the edge of the train tracks and looked down. The normal, muggle train tracks coming out of kings cross were raised up on a sort of long bridge, raising them several stories above the city streets. Harry glanced down in time to see the end of the Hogwarts express squeeze itself out from between the bricks of the bridge and head off down a track that looked disused. Up ahead the track rose up and joined with the others, if Harry was going to do it, he'd have to do it now.

"Please! Oh god please let me still be born lucky!" Harry prayed silently, then launched himself off the side.

He crashed into the top of the last carriage and hung onto it for dear life. The train was beginning to pick up speed and Harry crawled to the edge. Thankfully the carriages window was open. Harry swung his bag in through it then slid down into it himself.

"Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." He said to the aghast first years who's carriage he'd dropped into. "See you at Hogwarts!" Harry walked shakily out the door. Once he was safely in the corridor he leaned against the wall and slid down till he was on the floor. He wanted to get up and find his friends but for some reason none of his limbs seemed to work. He caught a glimpse of himself in the glass in front of him and blinked in shock. He looked a wreck! Blood ran down the left side of his face and was matted into the hair above.

"M… Mr Potter." Harry looked around and saw the witch with the trolley standing looking at him. Harry gulped for air.

"Two cauldron cakes please." He said, trying to think of something that would calm his nerves.

She wordlessly handed him the cakes and took the price of them without once taking her eyes off him. When he was about to leave she finally said.

"Did you… just… jump onto the train."

"No." Harry shook his head "No. Definitely not. You'd have to be crazy to jump on a moving train."

*

Harry moved down the train as quietly as he could. Trying to find his friends without drawing too much attention. Unfortunately talk travelled fast on the Hogwarts express and he couldn't go five steps without encountering another stare or pass a group of students without them breaking out in a fit of whispering.

"So pathetic attention seeking Potter strikes again." The voice was behind him. Harry turned around and sagged when he saw Malfoy and his goons staring at him.

"Malfoy I really don't have the energy for this now." It was true. Harry would have liked doing nothing more than simply collapsing on the floor there for the remainder of the journey. "Could you please, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, bugger off and die like the diseased piece of distended rectum flesh you are."

"Big talk for a kid who can barely stand." Malfoy took a step forward and Harry retreated. "And I don't see your little friends here to help you today. This may just be my lucky day." The three Slytherins advanced on him and Harry drew his wand when…

"Potter!" Harry turned and saw professor McGonagall standing in the carriage. Malfoy and his bodyguards disappeared through a door. "How in Merlin's name did you get here?" She grabbed him and pulled out her wand, touching it calmly to the cut on his head then whisking away the blood on his face. "I just spent an unpleasant few minutes arguing with Molly Weasley who was franticly trying to get us to stop the train. She seemed to be under the impression that the barrier had sealed with you on the other side."

"It did." Harry nodded. "That's how I hurt my head."

"But then. How did you get here?"

"You honestly, really and truly don't want to know."

"Harry…"

"I jumped onto the train."

"YOU JUMPED ONTO THE TRAIN!"

"The barrier had sealed up! There wasn't any other way! And besides, I had a head injury. I'm not sure I was in an entirely rational frame of mind."

"That is beside the point Mr Potter, but after the stunt you pulled at the end of last year I suppose I should not be entirely surprised." She straightened up "We will have to discuss this further in my office at Hogwarts. At the very least you will receive several days detention."

"But if I have detention…" Harry grasped at this straw "… then I'm not expelled? Right?"

"No Mr Potter. Not _this_ time." She began walking away down the train. "Go to my office when we reach Hogwarts."

"After the sorting?"

"As _soon_ as you reach the castle."

"Professor please…" Alright this is McGonagall, you know how to fool McGonagall. She acts tough but she's all mushy inside. "… my friend's sister's getting sorted today and she's worried about it. All her brothers are in Gryffindor, whole family really. I should be there for her. Please?"

"Alright Mr Potter. After the sorting." McGonagall's eyes had gotten softer as Harry had spoken. "But before the feast."

"Of course Professor. I'll be there."

"And I will owl Mrs Weasley to inform her you are safe." She turned away and Harry was left alone once again in the corridor.

*

Harry eventually found the Marauders compartment and slid the door open.

"Hello freindlies!"

"Harry!" Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Ron said you couldn't get onto the platform!"

"Couldn't." Harry noticed Ginny sitting quietly in the corner of the compartment. Ron had probably been told to keep an eye on her. "Had to acquire entry to the train by… other means."

"Apparation?" Padma had apparently also caught some sun over the summer, though it was less noticeable on her. "You do know that's illegal."

"Couldn't care less. But no."

"Portkey?" Neville seemed to think for a moment. "Or a broom?"

"No." Ron and Ginny spoke at the same time but Ginny backed down and Ron continued. "Harry swore blind he'd never touch another broom."

"Oh god I know what it is." Parvarti put her hand to her mouth and began shaking her head. "I was talking to Lavender down the other end of the train. I thought she was _joking_."

"What is it?" Hermione asked and the marauders seemed to hang waiting for the answers.

"You jumped onto the top of the train." The marauders turned as one to look at him.

"Maybe." None of his friends seemed to want to speak.

"Harry..." Neville broke the silence. "…you're crazy."

"I know." Harry sat as the other snapped out of their shock and started speaking all at once. "It's beginning to worry me."

*

The train meandered its long journey through the hills and Harry ducked out of the conversations around him. His head still hurt and he didn't have the energy to entertain people. He leaned against the cold window as rain started to streak down, leaving little trails on the window pane. He closed his eyes and lay there for a long while. Little trails of water, swirling, drowning.

"Harry." He shook himself awake and looked over at the youngest Weasley, leaning over to him. "Are you alright?" Harry looked around the compartment, the rest of his friends were still talking amongst themselves. "You're face was all scrunched up like you were dreaming."

"Oh, are we there yet." Harry kind of wanted to get back to sleep. Even if it was to bad dreams.

"Not for a while." Ginny bit her lip worriedly. Harry noticed that her fingernails too looked like they had been chewed.

"Worried?" Harry grinned as she jerked in surprise. Harry waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry. You'll love it there. Lessons are easy, specially charms. Friends everywhere. Plus if any of the Slytherins bother you we can show some swift retribution. We're feared by that house."

"That's kind of what I'm worried about." Ginny glanced at the red edges on Harry's robes.

"Ah." Thought Harry. "My guess was right, and I just made that up to soften up McGonagall."

"You're worried about the sorting." Harry said out loud. "Want to be Gryffindor?"

"Yes. If I don't my brothers 'll never forgive me."

"Then tell it so." Harry looked at the young girls startled expression. "You know what the sorting hat is right?" nod. "Then tell it you want to be a Gryffindor. Don't take no for an answer. It's your life, don't let a hat make decisions for you." Harry leaned back down and closed his eyes again.

*

"What the hell?" Ron voiced what they were all thinking as the marauders moved away from the train at Hogsmead. Ginny had left to take her little boat ride and the six friends now stood in front of a line of carriages, each drawn by a thin scaly horse with folded leathery wings. "Charlie told me the carriages pulled themselves?"

"Maybe they've changed since your brothers day." Said Harry climbing into one of them. "And besides…" He looked around "No one else seems to think anything's amiss."

"Still think this is weird."

*

Ginny Weasley stood fidgeting in front of the hall as the sorting hat finished its song. She was so nervous she wanted to bite her nails despite the face they were already worn to the pith. Well, at least she was a Weasley. Her name would be called near to last. She saw Harry on the Gryffindor table spinning three forks in the air in front of him. She tried to catch his eye but failed, he was talking to his real friends. Everyone began to pay attention as Dumbledore stood up.

"Before we begin the sorting I'd like to announce two things. One is that, despite what this empty chair seems to indicate, we have found a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Ginny looked along the teachers table and saw a lank-haired professor grimace. She giggled, that must be professor Snape. "Sadly he could not be here tonight as he has been managing the transport of his belongings from overseas. Rest assured that he has my full confidence and he will introduce himself, probably at length…" did the lank-haired professor just grimace even more? "…in your first lesson with him tomorrow. Now the second thing is that we will be doing this years sorting backwards."

"What?" That prompted a murmuring about the hall.

"Yes, call it an old mans fancy. Now let us continue so that we can enjoy a brilliant feast after we are all done." Dumbledore sat back down but the murmuring hadn't ceased. McGonagall then took her place, the expression on her face clearly showing that the Headmaster had not discussed this with her. She looked down at her paper and read…

"Weasley, Ginevra."

"What! Oh…" Ginny thought as she walked out in front of the school. "Backwards…" The last thing she saw before she pulled the hat down over her eyes were the Marauders turning to watch her.

_"Another Weasley, seems I see those on almost a yearly basis. But a Weasley girl? Why I haven't seen one like you in…"_

"I chose Gryffindor." It seemed to her that the hat gasped loudly all around her.

_"That's not quite how it works Weasley girl."_

"No. That is how it works. Harry told me I could choose my house. I want to be in Gryffindor."

_"Quite brave of you to just shout it out it like that. Almost forces me to pick Gryffindor." _Shout it out?…Oh god!

_"Ah… You didn't realise you were speaking out loud?" _  
Ginny lifted the brim of the hat just enough to see around the Hall. There was whispering everywhere, and every face had an identical visage of shocked astonishment. Her eyes searched out her brothers at the Gryffindor table. Percy had buried his face in his hands and seemed to be trying to pretend it all wasn't happening, Fred and George were watching her with huge evil grins and Ron, Ron just looked confused. Her eyes flickered past Ron to Harry and their gazes locked, then the boy did the oddest thing, he pulled up his sleeve, put his hand palm out and jabbed forward.

_Follow through_

Ginny glanced back at the teachers table, where every face mirrored the astonishment of the students. She glanced back to Harry and he jabbed again. Well, if she was gonna follow through then there was only one thing for it...

"Yep." She said, trying to not have her voice break out in whimpers. "Definitely Gryffindor." And with that she pulled the hat off her head, set it down on the chair and walked steadily towards Harry. She blanked out everything else in the hall, the whispers rising, the teachers, everything. There was a seat next to Harry and she was sitting in it. She reached the bench and hopped onto it, everyone was looking at her.

"Stay perfectly calm." Harry's voice but she swore his lips barely moved. "Look straight ahead and don't give them any sign they're getting to you." Easy for him to say! She stayed exactly where she was as the silence crawled on. Then something touched her hand by her side. A candy of some kind. Without a word, and before the silent stares of the whole hall, she brought out, unwrapped and calmly ate a liquorice wand.

Every eye in the hall turned as they heard McGonagall clear her throat then…

"Kingston, Victor."

It was as if the hall had been holding its breath the entire time and now let it out in a wave of chatter. Ginny felt someone clap her on the back and looked sideways into Harry's face.

"Thank you." Ginny breathed through the noise. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't even realise I was talking out loud."

"Figured as much." Harry said glibly and offered her another liquorice wand. "Good thing I was paying attention, who the hell is Ginevra Weasley?"

The small boy with exquisitely waxed hair and sunglasses apparently named Victor Kingston had reached the hat and was looking down at it worriedly. He looked like he was about to pick it up then looked at the tables in the hall.

"Ravenclaw. I think I like Ravenclaw."

"On the plus side you may have started a revolution." Harry had leaned in to talk to her again. "On the minus McGonagall's gonna kill you…"

A vague looking girl was now looking at the hat thoughtfully before declaring that she was going to "The red haired girl's house."

"Are you our new house mascot Ginny?" Fred leaned over and grinned at his sister.

"We could make up some new banners if you like." His twin leaned in from the other side of the table.

"Leave her twins." Harry was holding her by both shoulders away from her older brothers. "She tricked the hat, swindled McGonagall, caused a cross house revolution and all in front of the entire school!" Harry grabbed her and hugged her from behind. "You can't have her! She's ours!"

"What's he talking about." Ginny didn't think she could grin more than she was as she shot the question at her brother across the table. But it was Parvarti Patil who answered her.

"He means that you're the type of person who goes for what they want and has the nerve to see it through and doesn't care what the rules say or who thinks what!" She stuck out her hand "Welcome to the Marauders."

By the end of the day Ginervrador House (as it was briefly called) had an unusually large class of first years. Filch had to move some of the beds.

*

As Harry trudged back from his first detention with McGonagall that night (polishing hundreds and hundreds of brass buttons that were just going to be transfigured into beetles anyway) he leaned on the wall near the portrait hole and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Harry Potter sir!"

Harry opened his eyes and immediately realised his head injury must have been worse than he thought. The Hallucination had long pointy ears and was wearing some sort of ragged cloth like a toga.

"Wha…?"

"Harry Potter should never have got on the train!"

"Who?" Harry shook his head but the small figure remained "What and/or who are you? "

"Dobby sir. Dobby the house elf." The odd little creature bowed to him, its nose almost touching the floor. "Dobby is truly sorry to have caused trouble for such a great wizard as Harry Potter. But Harry Potter must leave Hogwarts!"

"Caused trouble? What trouble?" Harry slid off the wall and stood straight. His wand was inconveniently tucked in an inside pocket, hard to reach. Was this creature a threat? "What are you talking about?"

"Dobby thought that perhaps if Harry Potter was hurt he wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts."

"What _precisely_…" Harry heavily enunciated the word "… are you talking about."

"Dobby thought that if the platform closed…"

"That was you!" Harry snapped forward like a shot and caught the little creature by the arms. The thing whined and tried to break away but he held on. "I could have missed the bloody train!" The creature nodded and whimpered a little more. "I could have been killed! Wait… knockturn alley…" Harry remembered the rubber wall. The elf stiffened again and he seemed to be avoiding Harry's eyes. "That was you as well! Why WHY!" He picked the thing up and shook it roughly. "Are you trying to kill me? Are you?" The elf was truly crying now and Harry let him go. The pitiful thing crawled away from Harry and sat on the floor, looking up at him with its huge, tear filled eyes. It looked like a kicked puppy.

"Look, I'm sorry." Harry reached out towards the elf but it shied away. "I didn't mean to hurt you. The hospital wing isn't far, can I…"

"No!" Dobby's face became a mask of fear. "Dobby cannot be seen. Dobby's masters can never know. Dobby isn't hurt, Dobby gets far worse than this at home. Dobby's masters are…" the elf seemed to stiffen for a moment then he rushed over to the wall and began hitting his head on it hard.

"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Wait! Hey, Stop!" Harry was torn between the need to stop it hurting itself and trying to avoid grabbing it again since he'd obviously hurt him. He pulled his robe off, quickly balled it up and (between head bounces) slid it between Dobby and the wall. The poor elf continued on for a couple of hits, apparently not realising he was now cushioned, then dropped to the floor.

"Thank you sir." The elf's voice was a little quaky. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his masters."

"Dobby…" Harry saw a need to tread carefully here. "If, _IF_ remember! Hypothetically I asked who your masters were. Would you have to punish yourself?" The elf quickly nodded.

"If I asked you to write it?" nod.

"If I asked you to act it out like charades?" The elf appeared to think about this, cocking its head to the side. Then he nodded.

"If I asked you to tell me why you want me to leave Hogwarts?" the elf's head stayed very still. "How much can you tell me _without_ having to punish yourself?"

"Danger. Dobby knows that danger has come to Hogwarts. Death…"

"If I asked you whether your masters were involved?" Dobby tensed like a rod. "Just _IF_ remember, _if_ I asked you that would you have to punish yourself?"

Dobby nodded. Harry smiled, that meant his masters were involved. Otherwise why would he be forbidden to tell anyone?

"And is I asked what form the danger would take?"

But at this Dobby shook his head furiously and put his hands over his ears. The poor elf began rocking backwards and forwards and keening.

"It's OK Dobby. You don't have to tell me." The rocking stopped and the elf uncurled.

"Harry Potter will leave Hogwarts?"

"No. But I will be careful, very careful."

"Harry Potter must leave, Harry Potter is in danger."

"I usually am Dobby." Harry leaned forward conspiratorially. "That just makes it more fun."


	10. Blood War: 3

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 3: Call to Arms

"Wonder if he's cute?" Parvarti wondered quizzically as the second years wandered to the defence against the dark arts classroom. They had the class first period Monday, so would be the first to meet the new teacher. "Dumbledore said he's foreign, so I bet he's cute."

"I just wonder if he'll be a good teacher." Hermione hung her head a little. "After a year of… of bad teaching we need to catch up. We'll be lucky if we can make it up in time for the OWLs." Harry could tell she had been about to say Quirrell, but had stopped herself. As far as he could tell none of his friends wanted to think about the events at the end of last year.

"Well, so long as he only has one face, I'll be happy." Harry stuck his hands behind his head and laughed. "Right?" The others stopped for a moment, then grinned with him. "Thought so. Anyway…" Harry was the first to the door and pushed it open. "… after Quirrell we can't do much worse can we?"

"Pipsqueak! Told you I'd see you again!"

"No…" Harry looked across the room at Markus Maximus Michelson "…please no…"

"Take a seat up front my good lad! I can already tell this is going to be one of your favourite classes!" The marauders filed in the front row and the other student moved in behind them. All of them looking a little apprehensively at the booming muscled figure in front of them.

"The name's Professor Markus Triple-M Michelson. I'll be your Defence against the dark arts teacher this year. Thought I'd take a break from the globe-trotting to pass on some of my knowledge to the next generation!" He swept his hat off and spun it across the room, it landed neatly on top of a suit of armour. " Oh and by the way the Ms stand for Maximus, Mighty and Magesto but they might as well stand for Muscular, Magical and most of all Masculine!" He laughed and put his fists on his hips. "So, on to the Matriculation!" He grabbed the register off the table and began yelling out names, variously chuckling at the odd names and winking at any girl who answered him quickly. When he got to Potter he said

"Know you're here Pipsqueak! Don't need to even ask!" then went on. Harry dreaded looking backwards but did so anyway. Near the back Draco Malfoy looked at him and mouthed the word _pipsqueek_ then sneered. Harry groaned, he'd never hear the end of this.

When the register was finished the professor strode up to the front of the class. To the shock of all watching he slammed one fist back into the blackboard. Words jumped off the surface as if they had been jolted into being.

"Duelling!" The professor said and indeed this was the title on the board. "Who here has cast something harsher than jelly-legs at another wizard?"

A few hands went up around the class, including Harry's. Neville gulped and tried to hold his hand as low as possible, but Padma took it and jerked it up.

"You there!" Markus pointed to Neville. Padma giggled. "What have you used?"

"Full Body Bind sir." Neville appeared to be wishing he had a hole to crawl into.

"Good! Good solid spell! Incantation, for those who don't know is _Petrificus Totalus_. And who did you use it on?"

"McGonagall."

"Mc…McGonagall?" A nervous titter of laughter ran around the classroom. "Right, OK. Um… Anyone else?" He pointed at Harry, "How bout you pipsqueak?"

"_Acerbus cuspis_."

"The pain-spear spell." The teacher stopped moving and turned back towards Harry. "A curse originating in the time of the inquisition, considered by many to be Dark Magic?"

"Er…"

"And who did you use it on?"

"Quirrell."

"Right OK." Michelson shook his head. "Before we dredge up any more assaults against Hogwarts teachers lets start on something else. Who here knows what a shield charm is?" Many of the hands went down (though not of course, Hermione's) "Right! we'll start there."

*

The class let out an hour later. Many of the students had the after-effects of minor jinxes and hexes on them from when their shields hadn't been good enough or when their opponents had been too good. Professor Michelson seemed to think all of it extremely funny and laughed outrageously at every furiously-dancing, uncontrollably-coughing or unnaturally-warty student before cancelling their affliction and sending them on their way. Half way through the class he had picked Harry to demonstrate some more serious hexes to the class. Harry's shield charm wasn't nearly good enough and he ended up suffering for every spell that winged his way.

"I hate him! I hate that muscle-head bastard!" Harry ranted as they walked to history of magic. "He knows my name and he keeps calling me pipsqueak! He singles me out! He will pay for this! Right?"

The other marauders kept a safe distance, giggling behind their hands.

"You know Harry, he seems to be a pretty good teacher." Hermione said. Harry rounded on her. "I mean, some adult wizards can't do shield charms and he managed to get half the class doing them in just one lesson."

"He keeps calling me short!" Harry didn't understand why the others didn't get this "And didn't you hear him? Mighty, Majestic, Mouldering… He loves himself!"

"Well…" Parvarti chipped in "He is cute." Harry's face became stony and dark. "And he… winked at me."

"You'll see." Harry turned and began back towards the history of magic classroom "You'll all see! After you meet him a few times you'll agree with me about Markus Mary Michelson!"

*

But they didn't.

Defence Against the Dark Arts quickly became the most looked forward to lesson by the entire school. Every few lessons Markus Michelson would introduce a new combat spell and work with them, pulling them with laughs, belittlement and encouragement, to perfect the spell. From disarming and stunning through to shields and self-defence he taught everything with an identical laugh and identical arrogant attitude. Harry remained sullen and silent in these lessons especially when the inevitable happened and he was called up to help demonstrate a new spell. He had tried to get the marauders riled up to play a prank on Professor Michelson but they had flatly refused. Harry had to content himself with dropping potion on a group off Slytherins that gave them oozing boils. It had been quiet complex, whoever the pus hit when the boils exploded developed them as well.

It was on his way back from heavy detention that he heard someone yell. Harry saw a first year rush past him upstairs and followed him, towards the noise. A group of students were gathered on the third floor. Harry pushed through them without a thought and stopped at the front to see a horrific sight. Painted on the wall in what looked like blood were the words…

_Arise those of ancient blood! Cast out the impure from this house of our fathers! Be true to your bloodline! Destroy the enemies of the heir! This is the call to arms! _

Harry glanced to his side, lined up next to one another stood a group of Slytherins. Malfoy, Goyle and Flint stood side by side, each wearing identical expressions of Glee.

On the floor in front of the letters crouched poor Victor Kingston, the kid who'd liked the look of Ravenclaw, curled up in fear behind his sunglasses.

Harry moved closer on instinct and put his fingers to the boys neck.

"What are you doing?" A voice behind him hissed but he ignored them.

"He doesn't have a pulse." Harry murmured, trying to move his fingers around for a better feel. "No pulse. Get Madam Pomfrey! Get Dumbledore!"

"Both are here Harry." Harry looked up to see the Headmaster walk to the edge of the crowd. He stood back gratefully as the school nurse went to work.

"Is he… dead?" An older Ravenclaw at the edge of the circle asked and a whisper of breathless shock swept the crowd.

"No." Professor Dumbledore said calmly "He appears to have been petrified."

"Will he recover?" Harry noticed that the Ravenclaw was a prefect, she had probably known Victor.

"Yes Miss Clearwater. I think so, in time." Tension seemed to go out of the group but the prefect pressed on.

"Professor…" She glanced up at the writing on the wall. "Victor was a muggleborn, do you think that there's any danger?"

"I am sure I can trust every student here to act in a way that does not dishonour the good name of this school."

"Yeah right." Harry thought and glanced back at Malfoy and the other Slytherins. "Seems a war's been called. People are already choosing sides."

*

The first attack happened just the next morning. Hannah Abbot was found with a broken arm at the bottom of the steps leading down to the Hufflepuff common room. Her bag and books strewn haphazardly at the top. She'd been coming up from the cellar early to get breakfast and been pushed back down.

Professor sprout took her to the hospital wing. But no one had seen what happened, not even Hannah, and no matter how much they asked the Professors couldn't find who had done it.

The next day a group of Slytherins cornered a first year in one of the upper corridors and began hexing him over and over. Only Flitwick happening past had stopped worse happening.

In a matter of weeks it was no longer safe for a muggleborn or half-blood student to be out on their own. Madam Pomfrey was being worked of her feet by the stream of injuries coming into her care.

Then, one morning, Oliver Wood the Gryffindor Quidditch captain was petrified in the prefects bathroom. The teachers had tried to keep a lid on it but the words that had been scrawled on the walls somehow got out.

_Mudbloods and blood-traitors cower in fear! The heir of Slytherin returns and the chamber has been opened. Rise up around his standard! Spill the spoilt blood on the ground! _

"It's getting worse." Harry said as they walked towards their next class. "I mean just look!" He gestured out the window.

There was a huddle of students scurrying along the wall and slipping in a door. A moment later a group of Slytherins hurried into the courtyard with their with wands out.

"Harry no!" Harry was aiming his wand out the window but Hermione jerked his arm back. "If we start fighting back things will escalate! We have to let the teachers handle it."

"They can't." Padma said dully as they passed the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom "Not on this scale." Her sister nodded silently. Her normally cheerful mood dulled.

"Padma's right Hermione." Ron shook his head. "Things are just getting worse and besides, we can't afford to lose any more Quidditch players."

"Is _that_ all you care about!"

"I just meant…"

"Shut up." Harry snapped back at them irritably. "Quidditch is about as much use as you two bickering when things are going to hell all around us. We've got to do something."

"But what?" Padma said, shaking her head. "This isn't like Quirrell Harry. There's no evil genius behind it. Its half the school, trying the kill the other half and we don't know till too late which is which."

"With some we got a pretty good idea." Harry murmured darkly as they passed a group of Slytherins. The Marauders curled around Hermione like a human shield as they passed and only spread back out after they had gone. A second later Harry's wand vibrated in his pocket. "Damn it!" Harry motioned the others to quiet and the sound of hexing could be heard above them. They broke into a run towards the nearest stair.

*

"Leave him alone!" Ginny's own voice sounded shrill in her ears. She stepped in front her injured friend and tried to swallow her fear.

"What? Protecting your mudblood boyfriend traitor?" Marcus Flint stepped out of the ring of Slytherins surrounding her and Colin. "Step aside for me. I'd rather not spill wizard blood, even your families, unless I have to."

"_Mico Harry_." Ginny whispered, holding her wand out in front of her. Hoping he was in range. "_Mico Harry_."

"Your _boyfriend_ doesn't look up to much." Flint said stepping closer and eyeing the quivering Gryffindor. "Maybe you want a real man?"

"_Mico Ron. Mico Hermione_."

"What's that?" Flint leant forward to hear. "That supposed to be a hex? Ha! What's it do?" Flint laughed and his cohorts around him started laughing too.

"It summons demons!"

As Marcus' head jerked up a bludgeoning hex struck him in the chest. He was thrown back and his friends drew their wands as the marauders rushed them from the stairwell.

*

Harry was the first to admit that he probably wasn't destined to be a duellist. His first strike against the seventh year had been lucky and he now found himself shielding for his life in the middle of a war-zone. Other students from other houses had been drawn in or joined in or been pushed in by the crowd and now the corridor was filled with flashing lights and cries of pain.

"You're dead Potter. Oh you're dead." Flint advanced on him and Harry ducked behind a statue as the big Slytherins curse smashed into the ground near his feet. A second one smacked into the stone wizard and it began to topple over. Harry scrambled out as it crashed to the floor and jabbed his wand at his assailant.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ The spell struck Flint but his thick, sausage-like fingers were curled tightly around his wand.

"_Confringo!"_ Harry leapt out of the way of the blasting curse and fell badly on his shoulder. He threw his own back in answer and the snake stumbled backwards. Harry jumped to his feet and shot a bludgeoning hex only to have it rebound off a shield and smack him in the chest. Tumbling backwards he landed on his back among the debris. His wand skittered off along the floor. A shadow fell over him and a huge booted foot slammed onto his chest, holding him down.

"Hello Potter." Flint pointed his wand at Harry's face. "Now I'm gona have some fun."

A moment later Flint was thrown off him as a sweeping wave of light shot through the corridor, forcibly pulling opponents apart.

Harry's hand darted out and grabbed his wand while he looked for the source of the spell. His eyes found Albus Dumbledore standing at the end of the corridor with several other teachers behind him.

"Is any student here injured or in need of the hospital wing?" His voice was stony as he eyed the assembled students. A few students raised their hands. Dumbledore nodded and turned to speak to the teachers behind him. "Please escort them there." No one spoke as the wounded were gathered up. Harry saw Markus Michelson handing Ginny her bag with one hand while picking Colin up in his other. As Professor McGonagall walked past him he caught her eyes for a moment, they were cold, harsh and disappointed. When the last of the injured were gone the Headmaster turned back to the remaining students.

"Now can anyone tell me why this happened? Why Hogwarts students saw fit to turn this corridor into a battleground?" He looked over the students and Harry realised that he and Flint were right out in the middle, the two of them surrounded by emptiness. Somehow the ringleaders had been singled out. "Why students who I thought I could trust to act in good faith instead acted like fools?"

No one spoke. No one wanted to draw attention to themselves.

"You will all return to your common rooms now. Tomorrow morning you will all come to the great hall where you will spend your Saturday in silence. You will return the day after that and for many weekends to come until I decide that the peace and quiet of the school has returned. Your parents will also be informed of your disappointing behaviour." Dumbledore gestured at the children. "Go off now. Not you Harry!" Harry was drawn back by Dumbledore's voice. Marcus Flint smirked at him with his troll-like smile and slinked off. Harry followed the Headmaster in silence as he turned and walked off through the school. He stopped before a gargoyle on the second floor.

"Sherbet Lemon." The childish password seemed oddly out of kilter with the situation. They remained silent as they were raised up by the staircase and walked out into the Headmasters office.

Harry glanced around in wonder at the odd silver machines, many moving or making soft sounds, filling tables around the edges of the office. His eyes were drawn to the perch behind the desk where a tired looking red bird sat. Even as Harry watched another of its feathers fell off and twirled towards the floor.

Dumbledore caught it before it hit and slipped it into an inside pocket of his robes. He turned and sat behind the heavy desk. Saying nothing, he regarded the student before him over steepled fingers.

Harry knew that with any other teacher this was the time to be quiet and look guilty, but with Dumbledore he might actually be better off explaining.

"Professor." He began and licked his dry lips. Dumbledore's eyes flicked to his. "I heard the sounds of someone being attacked nearby and I went to see whether I could help. When we… _I_ got there Marcus Flint and some other Slytherins had the first years surrounded." He couldn't tell what effect this was having on the Headmaster. His expression was inscrutable. "I fired a spell to make them back off and they responded, I never thought that so many other students would be drawn in or that it would snowball like this. I'm sorry."

"You cast the first hex?"

"They had been beating up Colin Creevey before we got there." Harry felt too guilty to lie. "But I threw the first combat spell yes."

"Several students are injured Harry." Gods teeth the ragged bird was eyeballing him as well. "And there was some structural damage to the school. Several paintings were damaged and statues broken."

"I was just trying to help sir. I didn't want any of that."

"And with this atmosphere of fear already around the school you have given everyone another reason to hate each other." Harry felt very small in front of the continued stare. "Worse, you have escalated this problem with your actions. Next time people will be even quicker to draw wands in anger. Next time the hexes will be worse and people could be seriously injured Harry, do you understand that?"

"Yes sir." Harry thought of Marcus Flint's smirk. Next time they wouldn't wait to taunt people.

"Today you chose to fight hatred with anger and violence. That way will always breed further hatred do you understand that?"

"Yes sir."

"See that you do not repeat this mistake."

"Yes sir. Thank you." Harry walked out of the office. All the way to the door he could feel the old mans eyes on his back.

*

Harry walked back slowly to the Gryffindor common room. By chance the route took him back past the battleground. Some attempt had been made to clean up but the place still felt damaged. Great chunks were missing from the stone and the broken paintings had all been taken down. The passage was bare. Harry saw movement at the other end and tensed for a second, then relaxed as he saw red hair and freckles.

"Ginny?"

"Harry." The little girl moved up the corridor towards him. Stopping just a little way down from him. "I'm so sorry I got you into trouble. I shouldn't have _micod_ for you. Hermione said you could be expelled."

"If I was expelled every time Hermione said I would be I'd be some sort o' world record." Harry walked up to his newest recruit and ruffled her hair. "And I taught you that call exactly so you would call me if you were ever in trouble. All this…" Harry waved his hand at the damage and shook his head. "Not your fault. But why are you back here? Shouldn't you be in the common room."

"I was… waiting… for you." Ginny glanced to the left and bit her lip.

"Remind me to teach you to lie convincingly Ginny." Harry looked into her eyes. There was a surprising amount of fear there. "Why don't you want to tell me? You don't have to you know."

"Lost something." Ginny's voice became smaller with each word she said. "A Diary. Must have fallen out in the fight."

"Your diary's missing?" Harry shook his head. "Did you write anything bad in there?"

"Not _my_ diary."

"Whose? Nicking someone's diary is all very marauder of you but…"

"I found it in my books before I even got here. Thought maybe it got left there."

"Who's was it?"

"The front said it was Tom Marvolo Riddle's." Ginny was acting almost like when he'd first met her.

"And the bit you're not telling me is…" He hated doing this but she was obviously hiding something.

"It was… special." Ginny seemed to shrink into the ground a little. "It spoke to me."

"Spoke? It could talk?"

"No, he wrote back when I wrote him things." Ginny curled up on the floor and hugged her legs up to her chest. "It was blank but it wrote back. He was so nice. I had someone to talk to finally."

"Someone to talk to?" Harry scratched his head. What did she mean? "You have six brothers don't you?"

"I can't talk to _them_." Ginny began to sob a little. "They don't understand. They laugh at me. Tom understood. And now he's gone. What if someone else picks him up? What if he tells them the stuff I wrote?" Ginny looked up shocked and scared and suddenly broke down into tears. Harry just stood there, he didn't know what the hell to do.

"I mess everything up." Ginny gulped between sobs. "I lost Tom and everyone's going to read him! I messed up the sorting! I started a fight and almost got you expelled!"

"Ginny listen to me." Harry tried grabbing her shoulder but she wouldn't look at him. With his other hand he cupped her face and brought it up so he could see her eyes. "Tom sounds like a good friend, I'm sure you can trust him to keep your secrets. I mean, other people must have had the diary before you and Tom never told you any of their secrets right?"

Merlin's beard, he didn't know what he was doing. What did he know about comforting people?

"And as for this." He pointed around the corridor. "All this we can fix. We can fix everything, don't worry. I'll help you." He was babbling, as if she'd care about the _corridor_.

"And…" Ginny had stopped crying at least. "You don't hate me?" Harry shook his head.

"Only when you cry. Gryffindors don't cry." He regretted it as soon as he said it, that wasn't what she needed to hear. As he had often done before Harry asked himself where Hermione was when he needed her. She would have known what to say. He smudged a sleeve against Ginny's cheeks to get rid of the tears. At least he could do that right.

"Come on. Lets get back to the common room." He stood up and held out a hand to her. "And as for having a friend to talk to…" He pulled her into a rough hug then let her go. "… what am I a stranger?"

"Harry." Ginny was looking up at him now. "Why couldn't I have had you as a brother instead of Ron?"

"Because I'm not ginger and my skin can take a tan. Why'd you ask?" But Ginny didn't answer him.

"She's probably distraught." Harry thought, putting an arm over her shoulder and walking with her towards Gryffindor tower. "I'm no good at this sort of thing."


	11. Blood War: 4

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 4: Broken Things

As days went by Harry found it harder and harder to keep his word to Dumbledore. Little fights were breaking out all over the school. A student could hardly go from lesson to lesson without seeing people running scared or hearing hexing.

Harry and other willing students had arranged to walk any muggleborns too and from lectures. It helped, a little, with both the students themselves and Harry's guilt. But every time he heard cries in the distance or saw a grin on the face of a green robed student he shuddered, but kept walking. Worse it seemed like more and more students from other houses were answering the call and more and more dangerous hexes seemed to be thrown around each day. Just a few days ago Su Li had been found with deep cuts all over her, like she'd been rolled in glass. Worse, she had been _inside_ the ravenclaw common room.

Harry knew that he was at least partially to blame for the escalation in violence but he knew who was really to blame, Markus Michelson!

Half the spells being thrown around had been taught to them in Defence class and Professor Michelson had been pushing them, hell even encouraging them to fight. His first class had been on duelling! Harry would had pointed this to people and (even from Hermione) got grudging agreement.

It seemed that the muscle-bound teacher had realised his mistake himself. As the violence mounted the teacher had looked more and more distressed and tired. That day (for the first time ever in his class) they had taken notes from the textbook.

Harry grimaced as he looked around the classroom, a group of Slytherins with Malfoy in the centre sat near the back, with their heads together. Harry turned back to his work and shook his head.

"Maybe Dumbledore's wrong." Harry looked up in shock, Neville was sitting next to him. "Maybe, you know… we _should_ try to do something."

"Last time we tried to get involved things went worse Neville. Much worse. I don't want to screw up again."

"But, we can't just let this go on." Neville was looking at him a little desperately. "You're going to do something, right?" Harry glanced back at the group of Slytherins. They were grinning now.

"Give me an option." Harry flipped the page on the book in front of him and dipped his quill again. "'cos I'm fresh out of them."

Harry felt his friend lean away from him. He had heard the quiet hope in his friends voice and felt bad for dashing it. But what could he do? He would only make things worse, he couldn't interfere.

And he kept that promise.

For about five hours.

*

Harry closed his book and looked around the library trying to work out if it was worth checking it out. He had been considering employing some of the spells in _Secrecy and Illusion_ to get students safely between lessons but they were irritatingly either to complex to be preformed quickly or to simple to be of use. He had been trying to find similar books in the library but the Hogwarts seemed to have very few of them.

Harry's face twisted into a real smile for the first time in a while. It was almost like they didn't _trust_ the students.

He quietly decided that the book wasn't worth it and got up. Madam Pince was hovering nearby frowning at the students cluttering up her library.

"Go on out." She hurried Harry out and gestured at the other students. "I have to close up."

Harry shook his head and trudged away from the musty place. It was dark already, and Harry hunched a little as he walked down the echoing corridor alone. The fact that he was this scared to be alone in the heart of Hogwarts disturbed Harry a lot. It reminded him of cold streets where you were never really safe, never well enough hidden. Harry's step quickened as he thought of the warmth of Gryffindor tower.

Was that a cry? Harry's feet slowed and he moved to the side of the staircase he was on. There it was again, coming from the top of the staircase. Harry lowered himself flat to the stairs near the top and slipped a periscope out of his pocket, taking care to keep quiet he pushed it above the top step.

He could see two people cowering on the floor and three around them in a circle. One of the three moved forward, Harry groaned inwardly as the moonlight shone on Malfoy's blond hair. That made the other two Crabbe and Goyle. It also made him outnumbered.

"So little mudblood." Malfoy was speaking softly in the dark above the stairs. "What kind of spell shall we use next?" One of the students rolled over on the floor and Harry saw her clearly for the first time. A Ravenclaw, perhaps a year or two ahead of him. Her chocolate skin had raised red blotches like bee stings. It looked like she had been hit with stinging hexes. Lots of stinging Hexes.

"No! Please stop, _please_." The girl whimpered, she sounded like she was crying.

Harry gritted his teeth, this was too much. Dumbledore be dammed! Harry glanced around for something he could use to help him. He might get one of the Slytherins from a surprise attack but he certainly couldn't beat the other two. If he took out Malfoy he'd be left fighting two students larger than him at the top of a tall staircase. On the other hand if he took out Crabbe or Goyle he'd be left duelling Malfoy who repeatedly outperformed him in defence class. Neither of the students on the floor looked up to helping him.

"Maybe something darker." Malfoy drawled and his cohorts chuckled. "I've read about this frostbite curse…" That bloody did it.

He'd get Malfoy and deal with the other two somehow. Harry was just about to push himself up when a voice from across the landing spoke.

"Move away Draco." The three Slytherins glanced away from their prey. In the shadows of an archway a figure was just visible, wand held firmly at waist height in the ready position. "Just go back to the Dungeon." The voice was tired but firm. Malfoy squinted into the darkness then sneered.

"Split."

"Malfoy." The figure moved a little into the light. He was a Slytherin boy, maybe third or fourth year with shaggy black hair and bags under his eyes to match his voice. "You have one of mine down there." He nodded to the other figure on the floor. Harry noticed for the first time that it was another Slytherin.

"Well…" Malfoy appeared to consider for a moment. "This one is no fun anymore anyway, Goyle stunned her or something by mistake and we haven't been able to wake her up. In the interests of _house unity_ I'll let you take her." The boy apparently called Split stayed silent for a long moment, his eyes flickering to the forms on the floor, then said in his tired voice.

"And the other as well."

"Oh we've only just started on her. Got some new stuff to try out."

"Give them to me Draco." Split moved forward slowly holding his wand out. "You three are just second years, you don't want to fight me."

"And you are outnumbered." Malfoy trained his wand on the newcomer and his two goons did the same.

"And you are surrounded." Harry stood up and aimed his wand at Malfoy's chest. "So back up wormbait." All the Slytherins faces showed shock. Malfoy rounded on the older Slytherin

"You even taking help from Gryffindors now." He laughed. "How low can you sink?"

"Just go Malfoy." Split covered his surprise and gestured away down the corridor. "You know you just lost this." Malfoy grimaced, but he seemed to concede.

"No fun anyway." He aimed a kick at the ravenclaw girl on the floor prompting a yell from Harry but merely a twinge from Split. "They just curled up." with that Malfoy turned and strode down the corridor towards the dungeons.

Harry moved forward quickly. The Slytherin was already crouching over his housemate so Harry knelt down to check the Ravenclaw.

"Can you hear me? Are you hurt besides the face?" Harry looked over her but she didn't seem to be hurt anywhere else.

"Made…" the poor girls voice was very quiet and dry "Made me drink something."

"Ok. You'll be ok." Harry glanced over to his ally of necessity. "Hospital wing?"

"Well obviously." The boy fixed him with a withering stare. "You carry Vanessa." He gestured to the student by his feet. "You don't look like you can manage her."

"I can manage fine!" Harry pulled the arm of the Ravenclaw over his shoulder and pushed himself to his feet.

The two of them walked in silence with their burdens towards the Hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey. At the bottom of the third staircase Harry leaned against the wall and tried to suck in air. Split wordlessly held out an arm. Harry laughed under his breath and they swapped passengers. Harry managed the last two staircases easier and they pushed their way through into the Hospital wing.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry called out and she bustled in, her eyes too looked tired. Harry wondered idly what his looked like these days. "Two more."

"Well put them…" Madam Pomfrey cast about then realised she no longer had any free beds. "…there." She pointed her wand and two new beds appeared, squashed in between the ones already there. Harry gratefully laid his charge down on the new bed and looked down at her. It was the first time he'd properly got a look at her, she seemed younger than him so probably a first year. She had long brown hair and pale skin. She seemed to have passed out at some point. "Do you know what was used on them?" The school nurse had already gone to work on the injured students.

"She," Harry pointed to the other bed. "Was forced to drink something. Plus what look like stinging hexes." Madam Pomfrey glanced at the bed nearest Harry and looked up questioningly. Split answered her.

"Vanessa was unconscious when we found her. They said they stunned her, may have been miscast since they couldn't wake her."

"Very well." She began moving her wand around over the two students, bathing them in pale blue light. "I will report this in the morning. Your heads of house will no doubt want to speak to you to get the details." Harry recognised the dismissal and walked out of the hospital wing.

He surprisingly found Split following him up a flight of stairs. The Slytherin common room was definitely the other direction.

"Not that I don't enjoy the attention but why are you following me?"

"I'm not." This was all Split seemed to think was necessary. They walked side by side up another staircase.

"Harry Potter." Harry held out his hand. The other boy rolled his eyes.

"I _know_." But he grasped the hand for a brief handshake. "Joshua Split. But I prefer Split."

"You don't like Draco Malfoy much?"

"_You_ don't like Draco Malfoy much." They climbed higher. Harry began to wonder if the boy intended to accompany him all the way to the common room. "I hate Draco Malfoy"

"I can sympathise." Harry kept walking for a moment before realising his companion wasn't following. Harry turned and found Split just standing there in the middle of the seventh floor corridor. "What? You waiting for the headless hunt to pass?"

"No." The Slytherin glanced both ways down the corridor then looked him up and down. "Suppose you can be trusted." The boy walked first one way then the other, back and forth along the hallway. Harry was about to ask what he was doing when a door slowly faded into view out of the wall.

Split rapped on it three times, then twice. He got the same signal in return and Harry heard something heavy moved from the other side of the door. Harry moved to see in as the door was pulled open from the inside. Someone in the room gasped at seeing him out there.

Inside the room there stood six bunk beds along one wall. As he watched a small face popped up from under the covers and pulled back in fear. Harry's eyes were drawn to the rest of the room, over a round table where some students had been playing cards. They too were now staring at him.

"What is…" But Harry's roving eyes began to answer his own question. Near one bed was tacked a faded rolling-stones poster and a sock tossed negligently over a chair had Homer Simpson on it. "You're the muggleborn Slytherins?"

"Muggleborn, half-blood…" Split pushed the door closed with Harry inside and flopped on the nearest bed. The other students seemed to take this as a sign that things were alright and went back to what they were doing, but Harry caught them glancing back at him. "And anyone who gets in Malfoy's way when he's hexing someone."

"How many non pure-blood Slytherins are there?"

"That will _admit_ it?" Split scoffed. "You're looking at them." He pulled out a crisp packet from beside his bed and split it open. Lounging there munching he looked distinctly un-wizardly. "Me and Emma Stoats are the only full muggleborns." He pointed to one of the card players, a tall seventh year girl who glanced up at her name being spoken. "Oh, and Elizabeth now. Thanks to your little friends stunt at the sorting she actually _chose_ this house. Nice and ironic eh?"

"And you live up here now?" Harry thought for a moment about how he'd felt earlier that evening. Hanging on to the thought of getting back to the common room.

"Well did you think we were going to stay in the dungeon?" Emma Stoats said without taking her eyes off her cards. "The locks on our doors aren't that good."

"I know. One _allohamora_ and they pop open."

"And you know that how?" Split tossed his empty packet on the floor near his bed where there were a few others. Harry just grinned at him.

"Josh?" A first year on a top bunk sat up. "Where's Vanessa?"

"Hospital wing Liz. Malfoy caught her." Harry looked around the room for a reaction but each face just showed resignation. Suddenly Split's head jerked up. "Damn it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin pair of glasses. "I took these so they wouldn't get smashed when I carried her." The boy pulled himself up tiredly.

"I'll take them back." Harry offered holding out his hand. "It's on my way anyway."

"It's not even _slightly_ on your way." Joshua said with a sneer, but handed the glasses over. Harry thought he saw relief flicker under his shaggy fringe before the boy sunk back down onto his bed. Harry turned to leave then looked back.

"Gryffindor password's Aigipan." Every head turned at that. "You know where the entrance is?" One or two heads nodded. "Good, come anytime."

"Why you telling us?" Elizabeth again from her bunk.

"Well it's only fair." Harry glanced out the door then moved to open it fully. "I can get into the Slytherin common room."

*

Harry slipped back into the Hospital wing wondering if it was after curfew yet. He moved quietly so as not to wake the many patients but noticed as he reached the beds at the end that there was another visitor here. The Ravenclaw girl he had carried (most of the way) there was curled up on her bed but another girl was sitting on a chair nearby. The girls were holding hands and had apparently fallen asleep like that. Harry put the glasses down on a side table trying not to wake them, then turned to leave.

"The nurse told me you brought her in." Harry twisted back, the new girl had her eyes open and was speaking quietly. "My friend." She nodded at the sleeping girl.

"I carried the other one." Harry nodded at little Vanessa. "Joshua Split carried your friend. You know him?" She had looked up and grinned at the name.

"She'll like that." The girl disengaged her hand and motioned Harry away from the beds. "She likes him." She giggled.

"When she wakes up you can give her some good news then. Malfoy offered to let Split take the little one without a fight, but he wouldn't leave without your friend. A regular knight in sulky armour."

"And what was your part in it?" They had stopped near the doors, away from all the sleeping patients.

"What else?" Harry grinned. "I was the cavalry." Harry brought his hands together like a claw. "Caught 'em between us. Intricately planned strategy." He held out his hand. "Harry Potter, don't roll your eyes."

"Cho Chang." As she took his hand Harry noticed she had light calluses, where had he felt that before?

"Quidditch team right?"

"Seeker." Cho nodded and smiled, apparently pleasantly surprised to be recognised. It had been mostly a guess on Harry's part, he rarely went to the games. Her face became sombre again a moment later. "But seriously, thank you. For helping Lucy."

"It was nothing, thwarting Malfoy's like a civic duty." But a little memory surfaced in his head. A name, maybe he'd heard it in the corridor at some point? "Lucy… Kingston?"

"Yep."

"Then that her brother isn't it." Harry pointed over at another bed where the petrified boy lay.

"Yeah." Cho nodded sadly. "Her parents wanted to take her out of school, but she wanted to stay." She glanced back at the girl on the bed. "She didn't want to miss out."

"I'm sorry." It was all Harry could really think to say.

"Don't apologise." She turned back to him. "If you hadn't got there who knows what they'd have done." Cho shook her head again and moved back towards the beds. Harry was once again at a loss for words and turned out of the wing to trudge up the stairs for the second time that night.

It was on a long dark stretch of hall that he heard a voice behind him.

"Fancy seeing you again tonight _Potter_."

*

Harry fought rage and hatred as he turned around slowly.

"Not surrounded any more are we Potter." Malfoy drawled, flanked by his two shadows. "And you seem to be all alone. How utterly convenient." The blond boy moved forward with his wand out. "Did you like what I did to the mudblood's face? She didn't need her looks anyway, like anyone would touch a mudblood." Harry kept his emotions tightly under control and said nothing. "What, no witty comeback? Well you'll sing in a moment or two. You've had this coming a long time Potter, so I'm going to take a long time over this. I'm going to really _enjoy_ myself."

"Don't bet on it. _Acerbus Cuspis_!" Harry charged every ounce of rage and hatred he had been holding in into the curse. Ribbons of silver lit the whole hallway, covering the three Slytherins who cried out in pain and fell to the floor.

"_Expelliarmus_!" Malfoy's wand flew off somewhere. But Harry wasn't done. He grabbed the startled second year and yanked him off the ground, pinning him against the wall.

"_Adhaereo_!" Harry slapped Malfoy's arms back to the wall as the fixing charm took effect. The Slytherin dangled there struggling, his feet a good foot off the floor.

"Let me down Potter or el…"

"Shut up!" Harry pointed his ward right at Malfoy's face. Some of that rage must have been left over because his wand flared red sparks causing the hanging boy to cry out in pain again. "There, see how you like it? You two stay down!" Harry pointed his wand at Crabbe and Goyle, just starting to lift themselves off the floor. "Or I swear I will hex his face off and that WILL scar I guarantee it!" Harry turned back to his nemesis who was still vainly trying to drag himself off the wall. "Stop moving! Stop moving and listen." Harry rested the tip of his wand right between Malfoy's eyes, the boy did indeed stop moving. "You are a pathetic lowlife-scumbag Malfoy you know that? You are a sick little bastard and you are finally gonna pay for it."

The Slytherin's eyes were crossed as he tried to look at the point resting on his nose, he was even quivering.

"Her brother, her god-damn brother in the hospital wing! And you force her to drink some poison and hex her while she lies on the floor like the little _coward_ you are then you _laugh_." Harry moved his closer till he was right in his victims face. "Well it stops now you hear me. All of it stops. You lord it over the other worms like the lord o' worm-hill so you make them stop or else Malfoy. Oh yes, I can make good that threat. Remember first year? I know where you _sleep_ Malfoy. I know and I can find you any time I want. So from now on any time any Slytherin hurts anyone in this school it is officially your fault and it will come back around Malfoy. Right back to you. Anything anyone in this school suffers you suffer twice over. From now on Malfoy EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO YOU!"

Harry's spit peppered Malfoy's face but the quivering boy didn't seem to notice. His eyes were wide and glued to Harry. Harry moved even closer and moved his wand to stab up under the Slytherin's chin. He squirmed and twisted his head trying to get away from the sharp wood point. Harry jerked his head back around with his other hand so he could look straight into those terrified grey eyes. "So keep your fucking house in line or I will _get you_. Understand?" The boy nodded quickly. Harry waited for a moment then nodded then jerked his wand away.

"Good." He turned and strode off down the hallway without another word. Let him work out how to get off the wall.

*

The next day Harry watched from an upper window as a group of Slytherins walked past a first year Gryffindor who's bag had spilled out all over the floor. As she noticed them coming she froze in fear but Malfoy jerked his head to the others and walked on. Some of them looked shocked but he just jerked his head again and they eventually moved off.

"Did you do something?" Padma had waited with him and was now looking at him shrewdly.

"Yes."

"What?"

"I…" Harry glanced out the window again and sighed. "You know what Hermione keeps saying about not sinking to their level?"

"You sunk?"

"Like a stone."


	12. Blood War: 5

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 5: Secret Speech

The fragile peace teetered often enough over the next few weeks but it never broke. Whispers flew around the school about what might have caused the sudden thawing of tension and most hit not far off the mark. Harry caught professor Dumbledore watching him during breakfast one day and looked away guiltily.

"How long do you think it'll last?" Ron asked one day in defence class. It had become a good class to chat in. Markus Michelson was sprawled on his desk, apparently asleep but twitching occasionally. "You know, the peace."

"Until Malfoy forgets." Harry flicked over the page in his defence book, at least pretending to pay attention to the lesson. He had told the marauders what had happened in general terms but had kept back the details. Like that he had used the pain-spear spell and how good it had felt to do so.

"Christmas maybe." Padma finished another line and dipped her quill for more ink. Only her and Hermione actually bothered to take notes anymore. "He'll probably forget over the break then everything will start up again."

"You'll have to remind him then Harry." Ron jabbed him in the ribs. "Eh?"

"Maybe." Harry tried to look engrossed in his defence book. He really didn't want to think about what would happen if Malfoy forgot.

Markus Michelson snorted and rolled over. They took that to mean that the class was dismissed.

*

The teetering and fragile jewel that was Harry's peace did last till the winter break and Harry waved his friends off among crowds of students who (although eyeing one another nervously and muttering) were staving off actual violence. Unlike last year Harry would be alone in the castle for Christmas, all the marauders had plans for family Christmases and he would have felt like an intruder at any one of them. Harry turned and walked slowly back into the castle, he was the last marauder there. Virtually the last Gryffindor come to that, with everything that had happened very few students in any house had wanted to stay.

Joshua Split passed him on the stairs carrying a very muggle-looking suitcase. True to form he had a crisp packet open in the pocket of his robes, munching them as he walked. He nodded at Harry before carrying on down to the entrance hall. Harry tried to work out how many students would be at Hogwarts. Two other Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw and Crabbe, Goyle and _Malfoy_. Harry shuddered, why the hell was Malfoy staying for Christmas? Didn't he have a giant mansion made of gold to go to?

Harry chuckled in the empty hallway and gave the fat lady the password _reminant_. He sat down at the now empty marauders table and pulled over a book. There was one benefit to being here alone, he might actually know a question in class once in a while.

*

A few days later (having got truly sick of his schoolbooks) Harry was wandering the corridors when he noticed that he was near the outcast Slytherins room.

"Split's not staying over break." Harry thought. "Have the others gone back as well?" He walked backwards and forwards and saw the door appear on cue. Three taps, then two. Harry waited a long moment then heard a scraping on the other side. The door opened slowly.

"Oh it's you." Vanessa pulled the door open for then closed it behind him. "What are you doing here."

Harry looked around. It looked like her and the girl called Elizabeth were still there, they had pulled most of the pillows and comforters off the beds to form a kind of nest in one corner of the room. Several stuffed toys had moved there as well, including a worn looking rabbit with one ear.

"I was checking to see if anyone was still here. Didn't expect to find anyone. Why are you staying over Christmas?"

"My aunt and uncle are holidaying in Spain." Vanessa said, then added to Harry's confused expression "I live with them."

"Oh, what about you?" Harry turned to the other girl.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm keeping Vanessa company." Harry felt a sudden warmth of feeling towards the little pair in front of him.

"Where have you been hiding yourselves though? I haven't seen either of you at meals."

"We don't want to eat with Malfoy." Elizabeth pulled a sweet packet from the corner of the nest and ate one. "It's not safe."

"So what have you been eating? Too much Honeydukes is bad for you y'know."

"Josh showed us a way you can get to the kitchens." Vanessa curled up next to her friend. "We slip down at night. It's not safe otherwise."

"Ok. That stops now." The two girls looked up. "From now on you can eat safe at my table ok?" The girls looked at one another and something seemed to pass between them. After a moment Elizabeth nodded. "Also this stops." Harry pointed around at the room. "Your not living alone here anymore. Get your stuff and move it to the Gryffindor tower."

"That's not allowed." Elizabeth took the initiative again while her friend just looked on. "What will everyone in your house say?"

"Currently _everyone_ is a fifth year doing so much OWL revision she wouldn't notice if a herd of centaurs moved in to the common room and a first year who I'm not sure notices anything much other than the imaginary butterflies flitting round her head."

"Luna Lovegood?"

"That's the one." Harry grinned. "Please move your stuff. Otherwise I'm just gonna be sat there worrying about you all break and that gonna be a very sad Christmas for me. Please?"

Another long look passed between the two girls then Vanessa giggled and nodded.

"Ok, we'll come."

*

Harry reasoned in the days that followed that there was no reason to stop with just the Slytherins. With that in mind Harry embarked on a campaign of persuasion and cajoling with the aim of moving entire remaining population of the other two houses to the Gryffindor common room.

"Because it'll be fun. You remember fun, you have that in Hufflepuff right?" Harry quipped at the amused Susan Bones.

"Yes we have _fun_." Susan shot back at him amicably, leaning against the railing in one of the courtyards and bundled up tight against the cold. Like the rest of Harry's year she was used to his idiosyncrasies. "Its just that students aren't usually allowed in each others common rooms." She didn't add that Harry wasn't supposed to tell people the password, knowing by now the futility of asking him to follow the rules.

"No one is going to care." Harry flicked snow at her, causing her to bat at him and almost push him off the railing. "The passwords'll change after the break anyway and its not like the teachers'll mind."

"You mean not like they'll find out."

"Mind, find-out, what's the difference? Anyway, your alternative is staying in the Hufflepuff cellar… alone." Harry rubbed an imaginary tear out of his eye. "Well alone except for _Stevens_ which I class as far inferior to alone."

"He is beginning to get on my nerves…" Susan looked thoughtfully down at the ground around her feet.

"Come on." Harry urged. "Everyone together for Christmas. If we have to stay locked up here we should make the most of it right?" She looked at him appraisingly then smiled.

"Will you teach me to juggle?"

"Erg," Harry slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned "If that's what it takes…"

"Ok, I'll come. If only so you have the full set."

In the end the teachers probably did have a good idea what was going on, the fact that all but three of the student came down to breakfast together was definitely a clue. But either because they had their own holiday plans to think about or because they actually approved of what Harry was doing they did not complain. One thing was for certain, Malfoy did not approve and scowled openly across the great hall at them at every meal. Harry took this as reason enough for all his efforts.

*

When Christmas finally came Harry and his cross-house compatriots rushed gleefully to the tree and filled the Gryffindor common room with shredded wrapping paper.

"But if you open it carefully you can reuse the paper." Mathew Stevens complained at which point Harry soaked him with water. The refilling spray bottle from Neville was quickly becoming his favourite gift. "Hey!"

Harry grinned then spluttered as another jet of water hit him in the side of the face.

"Aguamenti charm." Martin Fredric the sole Ravenclaw said in a lecturing tone. "You'll learn that after owls."

"I'll learn you!"

The ensuing water fight turned the paper to mush and it was a sodden but laughing group that stumbled down to a late breakfast.

*

Weeks later Harry was sitting out in the cold sunlight idly flicking through a Christmas present (a spell book on permanent and semi-permanent charms) wondering how hard it would be to make an invisibility cloak when a shadow fell across him.

"Potter."

Harry answered without looking up.

"Malfoy, something I can avoid helping you with?"

"Do you have to make some pathetic attempt at humour every time you open your mouth?"

Harry glanced up and fixed Malfoy with a flat stare. The smirk disappeared from the Slytherins face and he backed up a step.

"I was coming to warn you." The words seemed to tumble out of his mouth like he wanted to get them out of the way. "I couldn't stop it so it's not my fault."

"What isn't?"

"I've been stuck here but my friends have been meeting up over the break. Making plans." Malfoy glanced around as if checking no-one was watching. "I only found out because Montague came back early."

"The outsider for once Malfoy." Harry smirked evilly. "See how it feels?"

"Will you please be serious!" Malfoy swallowed and continued at a whisper. "Something bad is going to happen."

"Bad how?" Harry flipped his book closed.

"I don't know. It was planned over break like I said. It's not my fault." Malfoy added the last bit at a rush.

"We'll see. What do you know about it."

"First day back. Montague said everything had to be ready for the first day back."

"_What_ had to be ready?"

_"I don't know!"_ Malfoy wrung his hands and stepped back a pace. "I keep telling you I was out of the loop here at Hogwarts. I shouldn't be held…" But Harry cut him off.

"If you tell me its not your fault one more time…" Malfoy fell silent and Harry began pacing backwards and forwards, thinking desperately. "Do you think you can get Montague to tell you what's happening?" Malfoy shook his head quickly.

"He won't say. I think someone told him not to." Malfoy suddenly stood up. "Someone's coming!" And with that he strode off quickly into a corridor.

Harry buried his face in his hands. He had so hoped that the unpleasantness of the term was over, that he could have something approaching normality for once, to go to school without conspiracies and threats. He chuckled wryly, he should have known better.

*

Harry waited anxiously as the school term approached. One or two other early starters filtered back into their various houses and Harry's impromptu recruits into Gryffindor went back to their own houses.  
All except Vanessa and Elizabeth, they didn't really have a house to go back to. As Gryffindor students filtered back they eyed the new arrivals warily and complained until Harry took them aside and explained in no uncertain terms where they could stick their complaints.

Finally, a few days before the start of school, Harry pulled together the courage to do what he had been putting off for a while. He went to warn Dumbledore.

"Sherbet Lemon." The gargoyle statue obediently moved aside and Harry moved up the long staircase and knocked on the door at the top.

"Enter." Harry pushed the door open to see Dumbledore sitting at his desk look up curiously, then he frowned. "Harry that password is not to be used by students."

"I'm sorry sir, but I needed to tell you something."

"And you seem to be being rather free with certain other passwords as well." At this Harry drew himself up.

"That I'm not apologising for. Would have been stupid for everyone to spend Christmas alone, especially the first years." He met Dumbledore's gaze this time and didn't falter.

"Harry you cannot decide which rules to obey and in what situations. I thought I made that clear in our last conversation." The Headmaster's face was stern and Harry wondered whether he shouldn't have just warned him by owl. "If you cannot abide by the rules of this institution…"

"Abiding by the rules wasn't working." Harry was almost surprised to hear his own voice, even though it was coming at barely a whisper. "People were getting hurt all the time. It was only a matter of time before something worse happened."

"So you take the law into your own hands? Sink to their level?" Dubledore's voice was quiet now but his words seemed to light a fire in Harry's chest.

"You think that's how it was? How it works? You think things would be better around here if I'd just let Malfoy carry on?" Harry shook his head and glared at the old man. "Must have taken you a lot of ivory to build a tower this big. I pity the poor elephants."

"Insolence!" Yelled one of the portraits on the wall.

"Mr Potter." Dumbledore stood up, his chair scraping back loudly. His hands were clenched in fists on the desk in front of him. "I am the Headmaster of this school. Please try to address me with something resembling respect."

"You should be thanking me you still have a school! That it's not a rubble heap full of corpses!" Dumbledore's eyes were glinting dangerously and his mouth had formed a hard line, but Harry wasn't finished. "It's not like you were doing anything to stop it! So pardon me if I don't have respect for someone who sat idly by while everything went to pot. Not such a good decision in my book, bit of a bloody mistake. One of _many_ you've made recently. Anyone remember who hired Professor Quirrell? Not such a good decision there either. In fact…" Harry thought back and stiffened angrily. "… the first ever decision you made about _me_ was to put me on the doorstep of an abusive home and ruin the next seven years of my life so NO Dumbledore. I don't respect you." Harry saw with surprise that the Headmaster's angry face had twisted into something different. Was it regret? A long moment passed before he spoke.

"Harry…" He said finally as if speaking from a deep well. "…you are not wrong about some of the things you have said. I am as capable of mistakes as any other human. And for what it is worth I am sorry for placing you with your aunt and uncle. There were reasons at the time. And I know that you can, in your mind at least, justify what you did to Mr Malfoy. I know all about justifying questionable actions. But I implore you to exercise restraint. The road you are travelling goes to dark places and each act along its path grows more easy to justify."

Harry didn't respond, he didn't quite know how to. All the reasons Harry had for doing what he did still made sense, they just paled when faced with the calm assuredness of Professor Dumbledore. The deep voice full of knowledge that held some sort of obscure pain. Or guilt. Harry felt like he was falling slowly down a deep hole. He moved his hand up to scratch his steadily reddening neck and felt leather under his fingers. The leather cord. As his fingers touched it he felt the shell pendent move against his skin.

_You must trust that you know the path you need to walk, not anyone else, and above all you must trust yourself. _"I don't know how to act except to do what seems right at the time." Harry drew himself up. He wasn't angry anymore. He just needed to speak. "And I hope… I _trust_ that I know how far I can go down that path without turning black. And I know the Slytherins are planning something big for the first day back and if I find out what it is I'm going to try and stop it. That's what I came to tell you."

Dumbledore sat back down and regarded him quietly. When he spoke it was very slow and careful, as if picking through a minefield.

"What is that around your neck Harry?"

"It was a gift."

"May I see it?"

"No." The two wizards stared at each other for a few moments more. The whirring of the silver machines was he only sound to be heard.

"Very well Harry, you may go." Harry grasped onto that with relief and turned away from those piercing eyes.

*

The days crawled forward and Harry became more on edge with every passing hour. He had warned some of the other students there to be on guard and owled the rest of the marauders tell them the bad news but still no information was forthcoming. The day of the arrivals dawned bright and cold and Harry waited anxiously in the entrance hall with his wand concealed up his sleeve.

He saw the first few students wander up from the gate, walk into the entrance hall and greet their friends, then walk off down a corridor. Harry relaxed a fraction, the attack couldn't possibly happen until all the Slytherins got there. Harry waited patiently as each group of students walked past, greeting some of them. Marcus Flint walked past at the head of a group of Slytherins. He sneered at Harry and his hand seemed to twitch towards his wand. Harry just watched him as he walked out of sight. Perhaps he had been wrong about who was the ringleader?

"Harry!" Harry turned at the sound of his name and felt some of his stress fall away as he saw the marauders.

"Hey guys. Did you miss me?"

"Yes Harry." Padma rolled her eyes. "Every time I heard something conceited or arrogant I thought of you."

"I'm touched." Harry grinned then grew serious. "Did you get my last owl?" The marauders nodded.

"Did you tell Dumbledore?" Hermione asked pointedly. She looked relived when he nodded.

"How did you find out anyway?" Ron asked him.

"Overheard Malfoy taking." Which was true in a way. "Listen, people in the other houses know and are getting prepared. Hopefully they'll hole up in their common rooms where they can't get got at and stay there till tomorrow. But we still don't have the slightest clue what they actually have planned and that makes my nerves itch."

"What else can we do?" Neville was hovering around the edge of the group.

"Nothing much. That's what's really screwed up." Harry jerked his head back towards the school. "Come on lets go. Before we get frostbite out here." The marauders followed his lead and trouped up to the common room.

*

But frostbite was not off the agenda for long. Harry tucked his arms in and tried to get out of the wind behind a chimney stack while still keeping watch through the windows far below. Although of course they couldn't see into the Slytherin dungeons, there were only a limited number of corridors that led up from the entrance. Currently a marauder was watching each and every one of them. Well… unless there were secret passages that they didn't know about.

Harry hunched down further and glanced over at the next roof where Hermione was clearly visible, sitting cross legged on the dark tiles. Harry knew that Neville was hidden somewhere on the roof on the other side (probably in the shadow in the lee of a little crooked tower) but for the life of him he couldn't spot him. Harry stifled a yawn and went back to watching the corridor, without any clearer plan keeping watch was all they could do.

Had his wand just _mico'd_ in his pocket? Harry grasped the dark-red wood and felt the vibration clearly, a quick glance left and right showed him who it was. Neville had appeared out of the darkness and was gesturing for him to come. When the boy saw him notice he turned and disappeared down the other side of his roof.

"Damn it! _mico Hermione_!" Harry passed on the signal and scrambled towards Neville's position. He caught up to him soon enough and choked back a oath when he saw what his friend was looking at. It looked like an army. "Must be half of Slytherin house!"

"They aren't all Slytherins." Neville's voice quavered a fraction as he said that. "I saw Filch try and get in their way. They just hexed him, didn't even stop."

"Where are they going?" Harry hissed.

"I don't know. The kitchens are that way. Maybe they're going to poison everyone!" The two students slunk along the roof to keep up with those below them.

"You don't need an army to poison people." Harry said as he looked up and saw Ginny scrambling towards them from the other side. "Bets on the Hufflepuff common room. Come on, if we bomb it we can make it there before them."

"Oh great." Ginny groaned and turned around. "Back the way I came." The three of them broke into a run.

"Why Hufflepuff? Why the hell?" Harry ranted as they ran. "Surely they hate us more by now!"

"Does Hufflepuff have more muggle-borns?" Neville guessed, sounding winded.

"No, we do now." Ginny shook her head. "Maybe its just that their common room is closer. Or underground!"

"I guess we'll find out when we get there won't we!" Harry yelled back as he darting ahead "Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!" He slid down a long roof and dropped into a bush. Shaking himself free and ignoring the two thuds near him he dashed down the tiny corridor nearby and pulled to a stop behind a pillar. The smell of cooking wafted through to him as he leaned around the edge. He pulled back an instant later. They were all there, the Slytherins, they seemed to be talking quietly. One of the older ones seemed to be explaining something while the others looked on but Harry's heart was beating in his ears and he couldn't hear anything.

Harry glanced up and down the corridor. The Slytherins had stopped mere meters from the painting of a vase of yellow roses that covered the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. Harry was right between them and it. He felt someone move behind him and spun around with his wand out, then relaxed.

"Ginny." Harry whispered. "Where's Neville?"

"Broken ankle." She was panting and looked scared. Harry shushed her to be quieter. "What are they doing?"

"Talking."

"_Talking?"_

"Yep." Harry nodded. "Run back and find Dumbledore. I told you the password didn't I."

"Hermione's already gone." Ginny was gripping her wand in her small hand. She was trembling.

"Then_ follow her_!"

"No!" Ginny shook her head. "This is my fault. I need to help."

"Moron! This is no-ones f… you hear that?" Harry cocked his ear against the wall. The muttering from the Slytherins had stopped and all he could hear was the occasional shuffle of feet. Then a voice called out.

"Brock." And the painting dissolved like smoke, leaving a dark opening visible. Then another voice, high and reedy "_Colloportus_." And an odd squelching noise came from the direction of the painting. But still there was no movement from the Slytherins.

"I don't like this…" Harry ground his teeth. But then Slytherins all yelled at once, as if in one voice…

"_SERPENSORTIA_!"

Then there was a flash of light, the sound of running feet like a stampede and harsh laughter dwindling away as the footsteps left.

"That's it?" Harry said, shocked. "They took an army here to play knock down ginger?"

"Harry? Do you hear something… moving?"

Harry's heart froze and he stepped around the pillar.

"Ahhh!" The floor moved in a black tide. Hundreds of snakes slithered and hissed along the ground towards him. In the vanguard of the wave one rose and hissed at him, little flaps flipping out like a cobras. "Ginny run!" Harry gestured her away but she stepped out next to him and jumped back, grabbing his hand, when she saw the snakes.

"Harry! What do we do!"

"Like I have a clue!" They retreated towards the Hufflepuff common room as the snakes advanced. More and more seeming to rise up on their tails to watch them. "How about…_Flagrate_!"

A burning line scratched across the floor in front of the snakes but it wasn't thick enough to phase them. They just piled over and kept coming.

"Back through the door!" They jumped through. Harry barely registered the yellow hangings and low, beamed ceiling. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled. "Wake up Hufflepuffs! How do you close your bloody door!"

"Harry!" He spun back to see Ginny pointing her shaking wand at the hole. A long dark snake, the size of a python was dropping over the edge of the step into the room. "What now?"

"I don't know! Jinx it or something!"

"What Jinxes work on snakes?"

"Well I wouldn't try jelly legs!" Harry aimed his wand at the massive snake "_Confringo_!" But the blasting curse barely shifted the massive snake. It only hissed louder and began coming right at him. "_Diffindo_!" Red lines appeared on the snakes hard flank but it kept coming. It shook itself and coiled up, hissing and staring right at Harry's face.

"Its going to strike!" Ginny yelled.

"Oh, screw it. _Acerbus Cuspis_!" Once more the dark spell flew from Harry's wand and struck the serpent hard. It convulsed like it had gone mad, its hard muscled coils smashing a chair to splinters. Harry repeated the spell, trying to fill himself with the rage that had made the spell so effective last time. The spears of light came out faster and brighter. The snake shook with pain then went still, either passed out, stunned, dead or wisely deciding to play at one of the former.

"What is this racket." A few robed figures appeared from one of the rounded corridors. One at the front had the head boy badge pinned to his pyjamas. "Students are trying to sleep in… WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

"Its a snake Frankie. You can tell by the legs it hasn't got." Harry turned to the massed Hufflepuffs and picked out a familiar face. "Susan! How do you close your painting!"

"What Harry?" She rubbed her eyes like she'd just got up. Which, Harry noted from her yellow pyjamas and big, fluffy, hedgehog-shaped slippers, she probably had. "Are the Slytherins attacking?"

"They have attacked! There's about a million more of those…" Harry pointed at the giant snake on the floor. Then back at the hole, through which a few smaller snakes were already climbing. "Out there so how do you close the picture!"

"Brock!" Someone in the crowd had caught on. "You say the password again. Brock!" But the painting remained open. More snakes piled in. "Brock… brock!"

"They sealed the door Harry." Ginny said suddenly. "Colloportus, it sealed the door open."

Harry cursed, he should have remembered that. It was in _Beyond Alohomora_.

"Anyone know a counter?" Harry glanced at the Hufflepuffs clustering around then back at the rapidly filling doorway. "Anyone?"

"Yes." Said a tall girl in the back of the crowd. "It takes five minutes and you have to be touching the door."

They all glanced back at the waterfall of black now falling out of the hole.

"Yeah… that's not gonna happen." Harry drew his wand and pointed it at the hole. "Help me guys! _Confringo_!"

"_Impedimenta_!" "_Stupefy_!" "_Reducto_!" Spells Harry didn't know were yelled out all around him. The snakes were blasted back one by one but they kept coming. "_Herpestidae_!" Made a shadowy brown creature appear that tackled a black asp and bit it on the neck but it was overwhelmed by the flood. A revulsion jinx pushed the crowd back but it was not enough. Some fifth years pushed a couch in front of the snakes and pushed it over on top of them but they just kept coming, climbing over the obstacle.

"_Incendio_!" Harry yelled. But he missed, barely grazing the large asp that he was aiming for and hitting the couch. With a bang it burst into merry flame and the snakes on top of it shrivelled and hissed, dropping off charred. Harry grinned despite himself. "Another couch!" Harry pointed to the right of the one already there. "And one on the left too!"

"Got you Harry!" One of the older students yelled as he levitated a heavy yellow chesterfield out of an alcove and dropped it with a squelch on the snakes trying to skirt the side of the obstacle. "Incendio!" And that couch began burning too. Harry glanced to the other side and saw some heavyset students throwing cushions on an already burning couch.

"Back now. Back." Harry motioned everyone away from the flaming wall. And breathed a deep breath. "Think that should stop them? Until Dumbledore comes I mean."

"It should." Susan Bones rubbed a hand over her sweating brow. She had gone quite red. "I'm scared of snakes."

"No one likes snakes." Harry winked and waved back at the couches. "Even extra crispy. You seem to be holding up though."

"I'm a Hufflepuff." Susan seemed to find some strength in those words and stood up straighter. "We don't get scared easily, and we don't run away even when we do."

Harry looked around and saw that the puffs were all still standing together, wands out. Even the little first years stood shoulder to shoulder with their housemates. Not a single one had left since the battle started.

"Go Hufflepuff house…" Harry grinned and pushed his sweat filled hair out of his face. His eyes found the only other Gryffindor in the room. "Regretting your choice Ginny?"

"Regretting yours?" Ginny grinned then her eyes widened and she pointed. "Harry!"

Harry's eyes followed her pointing finger and he saw what had made her yell. Floating up from behind the flames the snakes came, squirming and writhing on the air as they levitated over the couches.

"Oh, COME ON! Give me a break!" Harry yelled and the spells began to fly again, blasting the snakes out of the air as they floated over. But once again there were simply too many, once they were past the burning wall the snakes fell to the ground and continued their advance. "Now I know why they picked Hufflepuff." Harry thought as he backed up, casting hex after hex. "Its in the basement, there's no way out." They were back to the bedroom doors now, the snakes still coming.

"Back in the rooms!" The Head Boy, Frank Cobalt yelled.

"And plug around the doors with sheets!" Harry yelled as he darted back into a room. Instantly he felt like his bones were being pulled back while his body stayed where it was. He was thrown back on the floor and rolled, jumping up and scrambling away as long fangs bit the stone where he had been.

"Harry! This is a _girls room_!" Harry was pulled to his feet by Susan Bones. "The door won't let you in!"

Harry glanced around but there were snakes between him and every other door. "Then you get in and shut the door!"

Susan gave him a withering look and turned to the snakes with her wand drawn and a determined look on her face. Harry grabbed her and tried to push her towards the door, only to find himself on the floor again being pulled up by his collar.

"Before you try manhandling me again." She stated flatly. "You might want to try gaining some weight and height. You really are titchy." She darted back and slammed the door on the startled girls inside.

"_Wonderful_." Harry hexed for all he was worth. But their backs were already to the door and there was nowhere left to go. "I hope you realise your bit of pointless heroics has earned you a grizzly death."

"And a place in Gryffindor heaven." Susan said shakily but with a laugh in her voice. Harry nodded and managed a half smile. "You never did teach me to juggle."

"Bit late now. Well…" Harry eyed the snakes rising up to strike then shut his eyes. "…bye!"

The snakes lunged.

"_Sacesiassce_!"

Harry opened his eyes and saw the snakes poised on the point of biting.

"_Sissciaszysscasi_." The snakes withdrew and began to slither back the way they had come. Harry looked around for the source of the odd voice.

"_Scicceozaz_." The hissing serpentine voice was coming from a cloaked figure standing by the door. He was motioning the snakes out, keeping them moving. He was standing right in the centre of the stream but none of them were biting him.

Doors around the common room began to crack open and scared faces peeked out. As the snakes left the students filed out of their rooms. No one spoke, they were all simply watching the cloaked figure. The man raised his hands and pushed back his hood. Frankie Cobalt was the first to speak.

"Oh my god. You're a Parselmouth!"

Standing there, robed and haggard and with large bags under his eyes, was Markus Michelson.


	13. Blood War: 6

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 6: Unlicensed Activities

Harry and Ginny followed Professor Michelson silently as he walked slowly up through the school. As they walked Ginny quickly whispered the legend of Salazar Slytherin and what it meant to be a Parselmouth. Harry listened in shock, it was all too much to take in. Other teachers has arrived soon after Professor Michelson and begun vanishing the serpents. They had left just as Professor Sprout began trying to restore Hufflepuff house to liveable conditions. All the while Markus Michelson had just stood there, with everyone staring at him.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked the teacher in front of them bluntly. Markus turned and smiled.

"You, my little rapscallions, are out after curfew among other things. So we are going to talk to Dumbledore. Luckily your friend already got him up out of bed." Markus opened the door to his own office. The walls seemed to be covered with odd trophies and native art. On one wall there hung a wooden shield painted with bright colours that spun and shimmered on the surface. A short sword hung above the desk, it had just one curved edge and the end didn't have much of a point. It resembled a machete more than anything else.

Inside the office three figures waited, with very different attitudes. Hermione stood twitching, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Marcus Flint lounged his large heavy body over a chair, his expression arrogant and sneering. Dumbledore was, as usual, inscrutable.

"Hello again Harry. How has your path been treating you?"

"I…" Harry was struck silent by the question for a moment then smiled. "There were some snakes on it."

"So I have heard." Dumbledore looked over at Hermione, who withered under his gaze. "Miss Granger woke me from a pleasant dream involving my favourite pair of shoes eloping with each other to tell me that she looked out the window of Gryffindor tower and saw one quarter of my school was marching to war. But when I sent teachers to find out the root of the problem the only students found out of place are the two of you." The old wizard looked over the rims of his glasses at Harry and Ginny. "I have only asked Mr Flint to come here because Miss Granger insists that he is involved."

"Stinking Mudblood." Flint muttered.

"I heard that Mr Flint." Dumbledore said pleasantly. "Please refrain from such language, you are not helping your case."

"I haven't done nothing wrong professor." Markus Flint grinned in what he must have thought was an endearing way.

"That is what we are here to determine. For a start Miss Granger would you mind telling me what you saw out the window of the Gryffindor common room."

Hermione began telling her marginally falsified story haltingly and nervously but Harry had trouble listening. Ginny was pulling on his sleeve, trying to get his attention, she nodded her head to a table nearby piled high with defence books. Harry followed her gaze and alighted on a book lying open to the first page. From that angle Harry could only just read the three words there.

_Tom Marvolo Riddle_

The diary. Why was it here? Was it connected to everything else or did this sicko just like reading a little girls secrets? Harry shook his head trying to get all his thoughts in order but he was running on adrenalin and no sleep and it felt like his head was full of cobwebs. Painful cobwebs. There was no chance he was going to work this out before the morning. He caught Marcus Flint looking at him curiously and tried to look like he was paying attention. Hermione finished off her story and stood waiting for a reaction from the two teachers present.

"Mr Flint." Dumbledore turned to the seventh year. "Your response to these allegations?"

"Lies sir." Flint grinned. "Filthy Mudblood lies."

"Mr Flint! You will mind your language and refrain from allowing such slander past your lips."

"Of course sir. But its still lies, I've done nothing wrong."

"Mr Potter, Miss Weasley. I'm sure you have a side to this story?"

"Yes sir." Harry jumped in before Ginny could speak. "Hermione told us what she saw and we ran down to the kitchens corridor while she went off to alert you."

"You did not think to alert a closer teacher. Or a prefect."

"Didn't think of that at the time, we were a bit tired. When we got there the Slytherins conjured snakes, opened the Hufflepuff cellar and sealed the door open."

"I can personally attest that there were a great number of conjured snakes in the cellar tonight professor." Markus Michelson added. "Would have been trouble for someone without my talents."

"Talents for dark magic." Harry muttered.

"You might want to also watch what you say Mr Potter." The Headmaster said. "I was going to give you both a severe detention for your blatant disregard for curfew. However my Mr Cobalt and Mr Diggory and several other prefects seem to be under the impression that you saved Hufflepuff house. The word hero was being bandied around. So I believe I will take twenty points for each of you, including Miss Granger, and leave it at that."

"We save everyone's life and lose sixty points?" Harry thought, fuming. "Unfair."

"And you Mr Flint." Markus Michelson fixed the Slytherin with a critical eye. "Have the honour of having detention with me."

"You can't prove I had…"

"No I can't. But you have grossly insulted this beautiful and intelligent young muggleborn witch in my presence. _Twice_. So for the next two weeks you will have detention with me."

*

"Sixty points!" Ron shook his head ruefully. "How can he do that?"

"He's the Headmaster." Harry growled. "He can do whatever he wants."

The Marauders lounged at their table in the common room. The students had been given the day off to allow the Hufflepuffs to recover from their night time ordeal. Harry had needed the extra sleep too but he and his friends had instead woke up early to give them time to discus the things. Ginny had reluctantly let Harry tell everyone about the diary and they had agreed it could be significant. Markus Michelson's status as a parselmouth brought the greatest gasp.

"How can they let him teach here then?" Parvati had demanded, her hands to her mouth. "They're all dark wizards. Every one!"

"Did they even know?" Her sister added reasonably. "Harry said the Head Boy was shocked."

"But they have to fire him now right?"

"Dumbledore won't kick him out." Harry groaned from his position lying on his arms on the tabletop. Breathing in the fumes from burning conjured snakes in a tight and airless cellar had made him fairly ill. Ginny was feeling the effects too, she was curled up on her chair and she hadn't spoken more than a word or two since they had begun. "Not unless he actually murders someone in front of him."

"But he basically has!" Parvarti countered. "We all know Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth. Remember the messages? _The heir of Slytherin returns_. Its him! Has to be."

"Its just like Quirrel." Neville said, his ankle already snapped back into shape by madam Pomfrey. "Dumbledore probably just doesn't have proof. Or else surely he would have done something."

"Parseltongue is proof." Harry stated flatly. "Dumbledore's just refuses to do anything. He'd rather sit in his tower." The others looked at him like he'd gone mad. "Well he does. Why hasn't he done anything?"

The others just looked at him glumly. They didn't have any answers.

*

Over the unscheduled break the school quietened down a little. The Slytherins shot glares full of daggers at everyone wherever they went but there was no violence. It was almost as if the failure of their grand plan had made them skittish. The whole school moved forward with an atmosphere of icy tension, a standoff that both sides knew wouldn't last.

"Another day, another trip through no mans land." Padma quipped as the marauders moved out of the potions classroom in a tight huddle. "Anyone else tired of this?"

"Better than the fighting." Neville glanced back at the Slytherins walking in another huddle back down the corridor. "Much better than the fighting."

"They're planning something." Harry shook his head. "Bloody Flint is planning something." Every time Harry had passed Flint in the corridor for the past few weeks the seventh year had forgone his usual scowl and grinned slyly.

"Are you sure its Flint? Not Malfoy?" Ron scratched his head.

"I think… I get the impression Malfoy got cut out of the loop over Christmas. He wasn't part of the snake army that's for sure."

"Probably didn't want to risk his own neck." The Marauders filed into the defence classroom and immediately dragged their books out. There was no point expecting anything else…

"Books away children! We're back to the practical as of today!" The class looked up at Professor Michelson in shock. The bags under his eyes remained but he seemed as bubbly and full of energy as he had at the start of term. "Hex-Deflection, this week we start with Hex deflection. Pipsqueek, come up here and help me demonstrate."

*

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Harry yelled as soon as the marauders had quit the classroom. The lesson had been lively, instructive and (if it had been under other circumstances) fun. "He spends half of last term in a funk and sleeps through classes while planning god knows what afterwards! Then he gets revealed to the entire school as a dark wizard, everyone hates him and he's bloody vivacious! He's just switched from petrifying people to trying to confuse us to death! I do. Not. Get it!" The other marauders just giggled as they followed the ranting figure of Harry back to the common room.

Markus Michelson's return to his happy place did not stop with that one lecture but continued. Eventually even the bags under his eyes disappeared and he looked, in every way, exactly as Harry had first seen him. Everyone wondered about this odd turnaround, but one night Harry decided to try to find out why.

That night Harry ghosted over the rooftops towards Markus Michelson's office. He squatted down near a chimney and glanced down at the closed windows. They were darkened and the curtains were drawn, probably locked and spelled too. Harry glanced one way then the other then slowly lowered himself down to a different window and slipped in. Tiptoeing along the corridor he reached the door to the office.

"_Alohomora_." Harry tried the handle quietly but the door remained firmly shut. "_Specialis Revelio_." A faint blue glow showed thought the door crack, near the handle, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Harry hid the glow with his body and glanced behind him but there was no one around. Hopefully Filch was patrolling some other area of the castle. Harry tried to cast his mind back to Beyond Alohomora. Intermittent blue glow meant something specific he was sure. "_Finite_." Harry tried hopefully, and the glow disappeared. But the door still didn't open. Harry groaned, of course. He hadn't cancelled the locking spell, he'd just cancelled his revealing charm. Repeating the charm brought back the glow. What did blue mean? Colloportus was red, he'd looked that up after the dungeon episode. Fixing charm! Blue was a fixing charm and the pulsing meant it restored itself if you tried to cancel it.

"_Eximo_." Harry spoke the counter then quickly followed with "_cesso_." The heartbeat fluttered, then faded. His hand trembling, Harry opened the door.

"Harry Potter must not be here!"

Harry spun on the spot then groaned. "Dobby! What are you doing here!?"

"Harry Potter must go now!" The elf was frantic, hopping from one foot to another. "Please!"

"Shut up!" Harry waved his hands at the crying elf. "Quiet! Please!"

"Must go now! Must go! Go now!"

"Dobby, please!"

"Danger!" The elf's wide eyes were full of tears and he was pulling on his ears in distress. The elf glanced to one side and his keening became more frantic.

"Over there?" Without another word Harry dashed the way the elf had looked.

"No Harry Potter! That is the Danger way! Run the other way!"

"What's this danger eh?" Harry looked around the corridor he'd just run into. "Michelson? Slytherins?"

"No no no no no." The elf had grabbed Harry's hand and was trying to drag him the other way. "Please go."

"Get off… What's that?" A scratching noise. Where was it coming from? Harry looked down at the elf but Dobby had gone totally rigid. It sounded like something moving. Harry moved forward, there was a door there, a side passage with gratings on the floor. It was louder here, coming from under the floor.

"Harry… P…p…potter must go." Dobby wasn't sobbing anymore but he was shivering. Uncontrollable tremors. "Please Harry Potter. Run."

The scratching grew louder and louder then stopped, suddenly. One of the grates on the floor shifted, like something was nosing up from underneath.

"Don't look in its eyes!" Dobby squealed. Then vanished with a crack. Something in Harry snapped as the little figure disappeared, and he turned and ran as fast as he could. Behind him he heard a crashing clang as the grate was tossed aside. He reached the door and slammed it closed before dashing down the hall. Splintering wood told him that whatever it was was following. Harry pelted down another hallway and skidded on the polished floor. With a crash that sounded like a bomb going off he collided with a suit of armour. Smashing to the floor Harry felt a stabbing pain in his ankle.

"Oh please let someone have heard that." Harry hobbled to his feet and cried out in pain as he tried to put weight on his ankle. "No no no." Harry looked back the way he had come, a shadow was just slinking around the corner. The snout of a snake came into view when Harry jerked his head back. "Don't look into its eyes. Oh god, someone help me." Harry tried to hobble away but he could barely hop down the corridor. He glanced back before he could stop himself and saw the snakes massive coils, too close. Harry grabbed the window near him and, not caring, flung himself out.

He landed on the slanted roof a few feet below and rolled. A drainpipe jutted from the wall a few feet away where it spouted from the mouth of a gargoyle. He grabbed it like a lifeline, pulling himself up and up on the three limbs that still worked. When he reached the top he slid onto the tiles and lay there trying to catch his breath. Below him he could hear the scratching still, and a hissing. It stayed there for a long time while Harry lay there, and he lay there a long time even after it was gone.

*

"_Reparo_?" Hermione shook her head at Harry and buried her face in her hands. "You used _Reparo_ on a broken ankle? Why?"

"You try climbing off a roof with one working foot." Harry was being supported by Ron as he hopped towards the hospital wing. "And it's fine." That was purely a lie. The foot had just about worked for long enough to get him off the roof when morning came. However it seemed like the spell had some odd effects when used on living tissue. Like the fact that his bone was now breaking, healing and re-breaking in a painful cycle.

"Madam Pomfrey is going to have a heart attack."

She didn't in fact have a heart attack. She did however call Harry an idiot.

"Why did you not simply come to me Mr Potter?" She said while pulling various odd coloured bottles out of a cabinet. "You have made your injury much more difficult to treat."

"Thought I could miss off a few extra classes." Harry grinned then screamed as his ankle snapped again.

"Was it worth it?"

"I guess not."

"Do try to remember that next time Mr Potter. Next time you… trip over your own feet." She smiled down at him.

"How long do I have to stay here then?"

"Overnight I'm afraid Mr Potter." She handed him a bottle of a greyish potion that looked like glue. "You should be thankful. At least we won't have to use Skele-Gro."

*

Harry checked the clock again, it was almost three in the morning. Thanks to the potion the breaking cycle had slowed. His bone had stayed broken for almost an hour now. Madam Pomfrey had said that if it lasted an hour and a half that would mean that the errant spell was fully leached out and the bone could be set properly. He lay back, thankful for the other potion that had dulled the pain.

"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter sir." Oh great.

"You have to stop appearing like that Dobby, really. Just come in through the door or something."

"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter is hurt."

"I guess I should thank you. You tried to warn me." Harry rolled over and looked the elf in the eyes. "I just wish you could have been more specific like 'Hey there's a big snake coming to kill you.' or something. Unless the snake was another one of your tricks, like the wall."

"No Harry Potter Dobby had nothing to do with that snake."

"Right, I th…" Harry's eyes narrowed. "With _that_ snake?" Dobby hung his head. "You might as well tell me Dobby."

"Dobby levitated some other snakes." Harry's memory presented him an image of a burning couch with serpents floating over it.

"Dobby listen to me. Look at me." The little elf's head tilted nervously and his eyes met Harry's green ones. "There were a lot of people in that cellar other than me. If you have some weird thing where you want to force me to leave this school fine. I can take it. But do not bring anyone else into this. You could have killed someone."

"Dobby was watching. Dobby wouldn't have let them get that close."

"What about the one that almost bit me?"

"Dobby's master… called him away."

"And you just left?"

"Dobby _must_ answer when his master calls. Dobby must obey it is a house elf's duty."

"Why don't you just leave?" Harry looked over Dobby and his dirty pillowcase. It was hard not to pity him, even if he was trying to kill him. Dobby was obviously a victim of whoever these masters were. "Can't you leave?"

"The only way a house elf can be freed is if they is given clothes." Dobby shook his head, he looked very defeated. "And Dobby's masters is never doing that."

"So leave."

"Dobby can not leave unless…"

"Why?"

"The clothes is the only…"

"Why? Just leave, or better yet just don't go back. You're out now aren't you?"

"Dobby is a house elf. A house elf…" Dobby shook his head. "A house elf cannot disobey an order from its master."

"Why? You don't owe them. From what you've said they seem to have given you a pretty screwed up life. Don't punish yourself!" Harry added as Dobby nodded then stiffened. "Its ok… don't." Dobby relaxed again.

"You see this is what they do." Harry continued. "They make them think you owe them. The Dursleys, my aunt and uncle you know. Treated me like dirt, I got nothing from them but pain and neglect same as you. But they act like they're doing you a favour. Twist your mind up so they even have _you_ thinking they're doing you a favour. But all it takes for you be free of them is to want to be, 'cos then they don't have a hold over you any more. Walk away from them… damn it." Harry heard a crack.

"Mr Potter?"

"My leg just un-broke. Never mind, where was I? Oh yeah you don't need clothes, just leave them." Dobby seemed to look around like he could hear something Harry couldn't.

"Dobby has to go." And with that he vanished again.

"Great." Harry spoke to the empty hospital wing. "You could at least have kept me company."

*

"Ready to go?" Ron leant in through the door to the Hospital wing.

"Yep." Harry slid off the bed.

"Then we should probably hurry. This place is going to be swarming in a minute. There's been another attack."

"What? When?"

"Don't know, but someone else is petrified." Ron shook his head. "Looks like the Slytherins are attacking their own now."

"Their own?" Harry felt ice in his chest.

"Slytherin fourth year, name was Split I think." Ron shrugged.

"Joshua Split." Harry sat back on the bed with his head in his hands. "You go on, I want to wait for him."

"Ok." Ron looked confused. "I'll wait with you." They didn't have to wait long. Soon Dumbledore walked calmly into the Hospital wing, levitating a startled looking Split. Behind them trailed Professor Snape looking sourly at them and Lucy Kingston who was sobbing into a handkerchief. As the Headmaster lowered the boy onto the hospital bed Harry crossed the room and looked at his face. His eyes were wide in shock and his mouth hung open.

"Is he going to be alright?" It was an inane comment, but it was all Harry could think to say.

"Yes Mr Potter." The Headmaster nodded. "He will be fine eventually, the same as the others."

"I did not realise you knew Mr Split, Potter." Snape stepped up beside the Headmaster. "I know Split as a model student. I thought he has better taste."

"He's a Slytherin." Harry said quietly. "How good can his taste be."

That evening Harry took Vanessa and Elizabeth to visit Split. Lucy Kingston was there again, glancing between her brother and her boyfriend

"I know they'll be alright once the Mandrakes mature." She nodded as if trying to convince herself. "But I can't help wondering what could have happened if they had hadn't been found."

"But they were. And they'll be alright. No use worrying about things that didn't happen right?"

"I guess. It's just lucky Professor Michelson found him."

"What?"

"You didn't hear. Professor Michelson found Josh. When Dumbledore arrived he was already there."

Harry just stared at her. But suddenly another voice broke through to him.

"Oh so he's just petrified. Pity, unlike you he won't even have a scar." Harry turned at that drawling voice. Malfoy stood in the doorway to the hospital wing. "I could give him one of course, right in the middle of his mudblood face."

"Well Malfoy, you came to the right place to get the shit kicked out of you." Harry crossed his arms. "Madam Pomfrey, can patch you up and I can have the fun of finding whole new ways to hurt you." Harry glared at Malfoy while the two first year Slytherins backed away towards Splits bed, as if even petrified he could afford them some protection. "Get out."

"But I was visiting my housemate during his convalescence."

"Out."

"Alright I wasn't visiting him. I hate his filthy mudblood guts. I'm here to talk to you."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"How touching. Get out."

"Potter." Malfoy glanced around the Hospital wing. The five of them were the only ones awake. He looked back and spoke through gritted teeth. "Please."

Harry paused a moment then turned to the Ravenclaw behind him.

"Can you walk those two back to Gryffindor tower. They know the password." Lucy Kingston nodded. As Harry turned and walked towards the door Vanessa spoke.

"Don't go, he's dangerous!"

"I think I can handle him." Harry said over his shoulder and walked out of the wing. A few steps down the corridor took them to an empty classroom. "Ok, Talk. And this had better be good."

"I'm warning you Potter."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No I'm _warning_ you. As in warning you that something bad is going to happen." Draco glanced around again. "It's Flint."

"It usually is."

"He's… I don't know precisely what to call it… _recruiting_." Malfoy rubbed the back of his hand nervously. "He's been talking to people, lots of people. Getting big groups together to talk about their collective blood purity and their obvious superiority." There wasn't a trace of sarcasm in Malfoy's voice as he said the last bit.

"I have three questions." Harry held up three fingers. "One: That's exactly what _you_ talk about so why aren't you with them? Two: Why are you telling me? Three: Why are you so ugly?"

"I am not with them because…" Malfoy trailed off and licked his lips. When he began again it was in a calculating voice. "Although I approve of their message I think their choice of leadership is lacking."

"Ah…! If you can't be the head of the club you don't want to be a member?"

"Precisely. And as for question two… well I thought we could work together. For now we have the same goal."

"Wait, isn't Flint basically your lapdog?" Harry tried to jog his memory. "Didn't you once say you basically owned him?"

"Yes I… Where did you hear that?"

"Um… gossip?" Harry grinned, remembering he had been hiding in Malfoy's chimney at the time. "Can't you just pull rank on him?"

"I tried and that's the scariest thing. His family is up to their eyeballs in debt to my father, I threatened to call in that debt and he just laughed. Said money wasn't important anymore. Not now that he had heard the call."

"The call?"

"That's what they call themselves The Called. Those who answered the call to arms, the call of Slytherins heir."

Harry took a moment to digest that.

"Are you telling me that Flint has turned this into some kind of cult?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you Potter!" Malfoy grimaced. "They say that all previous bonds and obligations are void when compared to the call. All debts are off, all oaths broken. This is a problem for me because I have lost the level of control I usually have over my house. This is a problem for you because next time they attack the threat of detention and house points won't stop them. Expulsion won't stop them, they don't care about Hogwarts any more."

"Bloody hell." Harry buried his face in his hands and tried hard to digest what he was being told but it seemed just too extreme to believe. "I thought Flint was basically a thug."

"So did I." Malfoy nodded. "But he seems different since the… Hufflepuff incident, which I had nothing to do with. I guess we both underestimated him."

"Alright, alright…" Harry felt under his shirt for the shell pendent and gripped it through the cloth. It made him feel better, a little. "Here's what we're gonna do… You have the names of these… _Called_?"

Malfoy wordlessly handed him a scrap of parchment. There were over fifty names listed.

"Not all of these are Slytherins." Harry said checking down the list. "Four 'puffs, six Ravenclaws, _sixteen Gryffindors!?"_

"Surprised?" Malfoy sneered. "As I've always said, Gryffindors are arrogant. And all of the houses have pure-blood students crying out to be given the recognition they deserve. And would you like to know the other reason so many Gryffindors joined?" Malfoy looked happy and condescending, never a good combination in him.

"Against my better judgement… Yes tell me."

"You." Malfoy grinned smirkily. "They seem to think you've usurped your house, acting like you speak for all of them. Plus they seem to think that your _abysmal_ performance in the house cup last year was partially due to your activities."

Harry winced. He was well aware that his house's performance was almost entirely due to marauder activities. Well, them and the twins.

"Alright, I get it. I'll deal with it. And I'll get in contact with friends in the other houses and cut him down to just the Slytherins."

"Even if you do he still has over thirty Slytherins at his beck and call."

"I can't stop what he does inside the dank confines of your dungeon." Harry stood and moved to the door. "I'll deal with the rest of the school, you deal with Slytherin."

"Fair enough. By the way…" Malfoy caught him before he reached the door. "This changes absolutely nothing."

"I know, I know. We're co-conspirators, not friends. And I still hate you." Harry gritted his teeth and frowned. "I still hate you what you did to Vanessa and Lucy and the others."

"And I still hate you and your friends and mudbloods and blood traitors in general. And unlike you…" Malfoy ran his fingers through his hair as he swaggered out the door. "…I'm far from ugly."

*

"Why are we meeting like this?"

"You mean in secret?"

"No, I mean in a girls bathroom?"

Harry glanced around the Marauders crowded into the depressing bathroom. They were looking at him expectedly.

"We're meeting here because…" Harry turned to Parvarti. "Why are we meeting here?"

"You said you wanted somewhere secret. No one ever comes here because of Moaning Myrtle." Parvarti shuddered involuntarily.

"Who in the hell is Moaning Myrtle?"

"Hell is the operative word…" Padma muttered.

Harry glanced around but saw no-one.

"Still not understanding." Harry shrugged but a voice filtered in from behind the wall.

"Did someone say my name?" A pale figure faded in through the wall, lank hair falling haphazardly over her spotty face. Beneath her thick glasses her eyes looked puffy, like she'd been crying. When she was fully through the brickwork she blinked in surprise at the crowd filling her bathroom. "Why are you here? Have you come to _laugh_ at me? Laugh at poor, moaning, fat Myrtle."

"Why would we bother doing that?" Ron said, apparently not noticing the shushing motions Hermione was making at him. "Bit like flogging a dead horse eh? Get it? Get it? Dead horse…" Hermione buried her face in her hands and the Patil sisters both took an involuntary step back from Ron. Ron's cheeky smile vanished from his face as the ghost turned to face him, murder in her puffy eyes.

"Oh yes! Not only is Myrtle DEAD! She's also ugly like a horse!"

"Its just an expression…"

"You boys are all MEAN and EVIL!" Myrtle screeched right into Ron's face. The poor redhead was glued to the spot with terror. "And how about _you_!" Myrtle spun and faced Neville. Ron looked profoundly relived. "Are you going to hurt me too!"

"No no…" Neville backed up with his hands out in front of him.

"You think I'm ugly!"

"No, pretty!" Myrtle hesitated, Neville pressed on. "Very pretty, nice… ears?"

"NICE EARS?" Harry was surprised the screech didn't break off tiles. "You're making fun of me AGAIN!" Harry couldn't suppress a giggle and the vengeful ghost rounded on him. "Are you laughing at me too. All boys are the same, you all…"

"What's your full name Myrtle." Harry cut her off mid sentence. She looked shocked, he supposed not many people had ever asked her that. "I mean I assume Myrtle isn't your last name any more than Moaning's your first."

"M…Myrtle Henderson." She had stopped crying. If anything she looked confused by this turn of events.

"Miss Myrtle Henderson. How would you like to help us…" Harry moved closer and stage-whispered into her ear. "…with some mischief."

"Some… mischief. What kind of mischief?" Myrtle moved even closer. Harry squashed down a shiver as the ghost brushed against him.

"Harry…. What are you doing?" Ron had managed to find his voice again finally.

"Recruiting." Harry glanced over the translucent shoulder of the ghost. "Do you realise how insanely useful a picket that can walk through walls could be. And unless I miss Miss Myrtle's attitude entirely she seems primed for some nefarious snooping. Have I missed my guess Myrtle?" The ghost blushed, tinting her floating, smoky form bubblegum pink. "Thought not. Can I count on you Myrtle?"

"Oh _yes_ Harry." The lascivious grin on the spectres face drove traces of doubt into Harry's mind. Had he pushed this a little too far? Oh well, _Follow through_.

"For now could you watch the corridor? Some friends of mine are meeting me here…" Harry rattled of the names of the invited conspirators. "… and its imperative that we're not overheard. Mind playing lookout for us?"

"Not at all, not for you." Myrtle swooped away through the wall and the marauders all looked at Harry. Expressions of disbelieving shock were becoming more and more common Harry felt.

"She'll be useful. And honestly I don't see what's so bad about her." They continued to stare. "Quite pleasant once you get to know her."

Further discussion was cut off by the arrival of the other people invited to the meeting. Susan Bones stepped in quickly and smiled when she saw the people already there. Cho Chang moved in slower while glancing around the corners of the bathroom (probably checking for ghosts). Her fellow Ravenclaw Lucy Kingston followed close behind her and said…

"Isn't this Myrtles ba…"

"She's out." Harry explained and shared a grin with his friends. "She won't be bothering us. Now eyes front girls…" Harry snapped and they all looked at him curiously. "I need your help. Something happening that spreads over the entire school and the entire school needs to stop it. I can't do it alone, I'm _sick_ of doing it alone, I really need your help."

The bathroom was silent for a moment then Cho spoke up…

"You know you've always got it Harry. What do you need us to do?"


	14. Blood War: 7

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 7: Breakdown

The called and the chosen.

That's what they were calling them around Hogwarts, much to Harry's displeasure. Flint's Called and Harry's Chosen. Harry however, had the utter glowing satisfaction that the Chosen were winning. Flints support had been slashed to just the Slytherins and even there he had only a loyal kernel, a fragment of the support he once had.

As Harry walked silently through the corridors he passed Malfoy once more surrounded by his usual crowd of sycophants, mute evidence that most Slytherins had defected back to their old leader. For all that he hated Malfoy Harry had to admit that it hadn't turned out to be a bad deal, Malfoy got his pride back and Harry had got peace. And it was peace, the chosen (Harry hated that name, it was overdramatic. He preferred to think of them as junior marauders.) had stopped the violence largely without using violence in return. It had just happened that wherever the Called tried to meet each other a teacher or a prefect or a big group of Harry's little soldiers were already there. People were wondering how he always knew.

Harry smirked, between an informant and a ghost it was lucky Flint had any secrets left. Harry rounded a corner and stopped dead. His smile dieing on his lips. In front of him was a bitter tableau, the last thing he ever wanted to see.

_TRAITORS!  
The chamber is open and the Heir prevails but you betray him!  
So each and every one of you will suffer!  
Each and every one will die!  
This is only the beginning Mudbloods._

The words were scrawled on the wall were nothing to what was under them. Colin Creevy, an irritating but earnest first year, was curled up un the floor with the white sheen of petrifaction on his skin. He was clutching his camera like a lifeline. Standing above him with his wand drawn was Professor Michelson.

The student and the teacher stared at each other for a long moment. In the silence Harry heard his heart racing.

"Good Harry. You're here." Professor Michelson nodded. "Run and get Dumbledore, I'll get this poor chap to the Hospital wing."

Harry didn't move except to grip his wand tighter.

"Are you disobeying your teacher Harry? Get Dumbledore." Markus Michelson bent down and reached for Colin.

"Step away from him." Harry raised his wand and started forward. "Or I swear to god I'll kill you." Professor Michelson stopped but didn't back away.

"Death threats Harry?" Michelson laughed. "Do you really think you'd last _five seconds_ in a duel with me?"

Harry never got to answer as the sound of running feet filled the hallway. A moment later Dumbledore was there, pushing past Harry to examine the petrified child. Harry kept his eyes trained on Markus.

"Albus." Professor Michelson smiled. "I was just trying to send for you. He's been petrified like the others."

Harry felt more jostling bumps and looked around to see other teachers and students crowding into the corridor. Despite the witnesses there was no way he was leaving Colin alone now. He cleared his throat.

"Do you want me to take him to the Hospital wing Professor?"

Harry dropped into a chair near the petrified Gryffindor's bed and tried to marshal his thoughts. The marauders stood around him without speaking. At the other side of the bed the two semi-Gryffindors, Elizabeth and Vanessa, stood silently. They had been visiting Joshua Split but had come over when they saw Colin brought in. They knew him. They took classes with him. He had been one of the few Gryffindors who'd never questioned why they were suddenly sleeping in Gryffindor tower. He had just greeted them cheerfully. They'd liked him. Harry'd liked Colin too, he was one of the few people shorter than him.

Harry shook his head, this was too much. And they had been _winning_.

"Do you think…" Neville started and then stopped, unsure of himself.

"Go on Neville." Harry tried to smile encouragingly at him, but couldn't find it in himself. "God knows I don't have any bright ideas."

"I was thinking Hogwarts might have to close." He looked at his feet while saying it. Harry didn't answer him, he just glanced around the Hospital wing. Too many of the beds were occupied.

"They've been talking about it." Parvarti spoke quietly. "Our parents have…" Her sister tried to shush her but she kept talking. " Our parents have been trying to get us to leave for a while. They say its not safe anymore."

The crew fell silent again. Parvati was watching Harry, like she was trying to gauge his response.

"Aren't you going to say something Harry." Hermione urged him.

"It's not safe anymore." Harry's own voice felt dead in his ears. They stared at him.

"But…" Ron was looking at him shocked. "Dumbledore's here. Its got to be safe." Harry didn't even have the energy to respond to that but Ron pressed on.

"And you Harry. You're here." Harry felt a dry laugh escape his lips. "No its true. You've helped loads. Right everyone?" Harry heard murmured agreement and felt an arm fall across his shoulders. Ron was uncomfortably hugging him. "Everyone looks up to you Harry. You'll think of a plan." Something snapped in Harry and he slapped Ron's arm away.

"I'll _think of a plan!_ Why?!" Harry glared up at the shocked faces of his friends. "Why?! Why me? Because I'm bloody sick of it do you hear me. Let me tell you straight out. I. Don't. Have. A. Bloody. PLAN!" Harry was yelling but he felt his voice catch in his throat. He stood up and turned away from them all.

"All these people!" Harry waved his hands at the petrified students. "You think I have a clue what to do?" He held his head in his hands.

"Its too much." He couldn't have stopped talking now if he tried. "Malfoy and Flint and Michelson and Snakes and Elves and Bloody Tom Riddle. I have them going round and round in my head but I can't put anything together."

"You do it!" He whirled and pointed at Hermione. "Or You!" He waved at a shocked Padma.

"You could have been Ravenclaw. You work it out because I can't. I don't have a plan. I tried but I can't." He collapsed onto the floor of the Hospital wing, he noticed the tears falling onto his lens' but he couldn't stop.

"I just can't do it. I'm not smart enough, I'm not strong enough. I only beat Malfoy 'cos I used the pain-spear. Had to use it again on the snakes. I ran away from the other snake. I'm a coward and I'm stupid and I'm sorry. But I don't have a plan." Harry's hand snaked into his collar and held fast to the little shell pendent, the edges of it cutting into his palm.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "You were wrong. I'm not up to this. I don't know what I'm doing."

Harry stayed sitting there on the floor, crying and sobbing. He felt his friends crowding around him, someone was hugging him, he didn't know who. He had screwed up his eyes as hard as he could. Someone (Ginny maybe? She had small hands) kept stroking his hair and making soothing noises. He felt a tissue pushed into his hands and tried vainly to use it on his eyes. He couldn't believe he was doing this. No one spoke, for which he was grateful. Perhaps he could just pretend this hadn't happened? But the silence was broken in the last way he would have ever expected…

"Did you say Tom Riddle?"

Harry's eyes flashed open. Vanessa was staring at him open-mouthed. "Yes." He managed to croak in a voice that didn't sound like him. "Do you know something?"

"My…" Vanessa looked scared and was gripping the side of the bed very hard. "I don't know… I don't…"

"Whatever it is… Please?" Harry heard himself beg. "You can tell me. You just saw me have a breakdown on the floor. Whatever it is it can't be worse than that can it?" Harry saw Elizabeth reach out and close her friends hand in both of hers. "Please…"

"My parents… are in Azkaban." Harry heard the marauders around him gasp and shushed them into silence. "They were arrested three years ago for muggle baiting. I live with my aunt and uncle." Vanessa swallowed hard. "My dad is older than mum. He used to get drunk, talk about what he did in the war. He… they both worked for the Dark Lord." Harry felt another gasp and Vanessa turned away and buried her face in her hands.

"'nessa you don't have to be scared." Harry shook his head. "When the fights started you followed Split not Flint, you're good."

"I chose Slytherin." Vanessa spoke through her hands. "I was scared of my aunt and uncle. I was given a choice and I still went to Slytherin."

"And you ended up in Gryffindor anyway." Harry tried to keep the eagerness from his voice, he _needed_ to know what she did. "Please be brave for me. Be a Gryffindor now." Vanessa nodded and started talking again.

"My fathers name is Tortor Gibbon…" Harry saw Ron's jaw clench and quickly grabbed his arm, he didn't know what was going on but nothing could be allowed to stop Vanessa speaking. "He used to talk about how proud he was. That he was one of the first to pledge his loyalty, one of the first to serve the Dark Lord. How he went to school with him, knew him before he even took his name. While he still had his old name. While he was still Tom Riddle."

No one moved. No one spoke. It felt like no one breathed.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was Voldemort." Harry could feel the spark. All the pieces in his head seemed to be coming together. "The diary was Voldemort's." Harry heard Ginny let out a cry and saw Hermione move to comfort her but it was background, it was all pushed to the sides of his mind "Markus Michelson has the diary of the Dark Lord. That should be enough for Dumbledore."

Harry looked around him and realised he was still kneeling on the floor, he had a balled up wad of tissues in his hand.

"Help me up." Arms grabbed him. "We've got work to do." He blinked the last remaining tears out of his eyes.

"Neville, Ginny…" Neville looked up but Ginny didn't. "Ginny! You need…" Harry had been about to comfort her but at the last minute decided on a different tack.

"Ginny wake up! I need you here, are you a marauder or not? Up!" She jerked up off Hermione's shoulder and stared at him. "The two of you GET DUMBLEDORE. He's changed his office password by now but don't take no for an answer. Find McGonagall, _anyone_, make nuisances of yourselves until you get him! GO!" Neville and Ginny bolted for the door.

"Bring him to Michelson's office when you get him. That's where the rest of us are going. Vanessa…" Harry turned to the little girl. "… you are amazing. Never change." With that he whirled to the rest of the marauders and drew his wand. "Michelson's office now. Lets end this!"

Harry grabbed the door handle and yanked at it. Unsurprisingly it didn't move. Harry glanced back at his friends.

"I should be able to break through, did last time. Go up there and keep watch for me." Harry pointed at a stained glass window. "_Mico_ if Markus comes alone." The marauders moved off, except for one.

"Harry." Hermione said. "Shouldn't we just wait for Dumbledore? He should be on his way, do we have to break in?"

"Probably not but I _can't_ just wait here Hermione. Honestly I'd go crazy right now if I wasn't doing something." Harry turned back to the door and heard Hermione move away.

Harry used the revealing charm and removed the fixing charm and temporarily deactivated a _sepulcralis_ curse that hadn't been there before and swung the door open. Moving as fast as he could he scoured the tables that were set around the room, the book wasn't where it had been last time. He began checking the bookshelves when he felt his wand vibrate. He slipped to the door and glanced out quickly. Instead of Markus Michelson he saw only one thing. Green scales and a long muscled body.

"Guys RUN!" Harry yelled at the top of his voice while darting back into the office. "Don't look into its eyes! _Coepto incantatem!_" Harry reactivated the _sepilcralis_ curse on the door and stepped back in terror. The slithering noise got closer on the other side of the door and Harry raised his wand in fear. As the noise got right up to the door he saw a flash of light around the frame and an inhuman screech. The curse had worked. There was a loud thrashing from beyond the door and the room shook as if something was throwing its weight repeatedly against the wall. Harry heard an almighty crunch and then silence. Then slow slithering sounds as whatever it was moved off.

Harry knew he shouldn't but as soon as the noise had moved off he ran forward and pulled the door open. The hallway was in ruins, paintings smashed and armour thrown everywhere. There were chunks of rock all over the floor, Harry knew what those must have been from. _Sepilcralis_, the entombing curse. It encased your body in rock, just leaving your head out. The snake must have been strong enough to shake itself free.

Then Harry saw something else that made him stop in horror. The running feet in the distance as someone came to investigate were nothing, all sound was gone. Harry stared up at four frozen figures, pressing up against a stained glass window that was no longer there, it had been smashed by the beasts angry throws. Ron, Hermione and the Patils, all petrified. Hermione had her wand in her hand, she must have sent the _mico_ before she was frozen. Her last act was warning him. She hadn't even wanted to come. Petrified just because he couldn't sit still for five minutes.

Harry dragged his gaze away from them and saw the people who had arrived. Ginny and Neville standing there shocked staring first at their petrified friends then at Harry. Dumbledore standing behind them with all the heads of house flanking him and Markus Michelson standing arrogantly to one side.

"Harry…" Dumbledore's voice was soft and carried nothing of what was going on in his head. "…do you have something to tell me?"

"Yes." Harry turned to him. He tried to imagine how he looked, sweating, his clothes a mess, his eyes still puffy from the breakdown in the hospital wing and standing in the middle of a destroyed corridor with his wand out. "I have something to say."

Dumbledore led them into Markus Michelson's office while Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout began levitating the petrified Marauders down. Harry turned once he was inside and began to speak before anyone else could.

"Headmaster, Professor Michelson is behind the attacks."

"Harry, do not make baseless accusations." Dumbledore said harshly.

"Its not baseless. He's a Parseltongue!"

"That in itself proves noth…"

"He has been at the sight off the last two petrifications!"

"Doing his job as a Hogwarts teacher!"

"The last two times I've broken into his office I've _coincidently_ been attacked by a giant snake! This time it petrified my friends!"

"_Broken into his office?_" Snape sounded as happy as Harry had ever heard him. "You admit it in front of four Hogwarts teachers."

"Get bent Snivillus. This is important." The shocked look on every teachers face showed Harry exactly how far over the line he was. But he couldn't stop now, he had just seen something in a cabinet behind the potions master. Moving so fast no one had a chance to question him he darted to the cabinet and grabbed the handles. It wouldn't open.

"Where's the key!" Harry whirled and yelled. He pointed at Professor Michelson. "Tell me!"

"Mr Potter you are in quite enough trouble as it is." Professor McGonagall was looking at him with something between anger and sadness. "You will be expelled of course but perhaps if you stop now you can avoid criminal charges."

Harry felt like he had been hit in the gut but he was running on adrenalin now and the chances of him stopping were zero. He turned and grabbed a heavy statue. Ignoring a yell from behind him he smashed the glass of the cabinet and grabbed the diary triumphantly.

He felt himself grabbed from behind and turned to look directly into Dumbledore's eyes. Far from bright and twinkling they looked like burning ice.

"Harry Potter you have…"

"…saved your arse." Harry cut in thrusting the diary at the most powerful wizard in the world. "_Read it!_ You will _read it!_"

No one in the room breathed as Dumbledore slowly reached out and took the slim book. His long ancient fingers moved over the cover and opened it to its first page. He stopped, for a moment Harry thought he had been petrified as well. Only the old wizards eyes moved, back and forth as if he was reading that one line over and over.

"Markus." When Dumbledore finally spoke it was almost a whisper. Almost a prayer. "You know what this is." It wasn't a question but Professor Michelson answered anyway.

"Yes."

"You know _who_ this is."

"Yes."

"Why did you not tell me?"

"I thought you had enough on your hands." Markus replied evenly. "I am more than capable of dealing with cursed items."

"Albus what is it?" Snape sounded almost interested. Dumbledore wordlessly held the book out for Snape and McGonagall to see. The Deputy Headmistress stared in horror and the potions master recoiled as if he'd been struck. Snape turned on the Defence Professor. "And you did not see fit to tell us about this!" Harry didn't envy Markus Michelson.

"As I told you at the start of the year Mr Snape." Michelson replied evenly. "_I_ am the Defence against the Dark Arts teacher."

"Oh this goes so far beyond you teaching duties." Snape's voice dripped with hatred. "You should have told us the moment this came into your hands."

"I was…"

"Enough." The Headmaster cut them both off. He sounded tired. "How did you find out about this Harry?"

"I've known he had the diary for a while. I saw it in his office. But I didn't know who Tom Riddle was until today." Harry looked Dumbledore in the eye as he spoke. "I broke in here to make sure he wouldn't have chance to hide the diary from you." Harry said, hoping they had forgotten he had broken in twice.

"And you sent Mr Longbottom and Miss Weasley to find me." Dumbledore finished for him. "Once again I find that you have totally reasonable and indeed honourable reasons for your rule breaking. Perhaps it is my judgement that is failing…" Harry said nothing. "Does it have any powers that you know of." Harry opened his mouth to speak then realised that he wasn't supposed to know anything about what was in the diary and shut it again.

"It writes back if you write in it." Markus volunteered. Dumbledore waved his hand and a quill appeared as if from no-where. Opening the book to the first page he wrote…

_Hello Tom._

The words faded and were replaced with.

_Whatever you do to this book I will reveal nothing to you._

"It said that to me as well. Albus I…" but Dumbledore cut Markus off.

"I will hear your excuses later Mr Michelson. Probably when you give them to the aurors. Until then you are removed from all teaching duty at Hogwarts. Clean out your office."

"But..!" For the first time Harry had ever seen Markus looked flustered.

"Professor Snape will cover your classes."

"No!" Harry couldn't keep that from escaping and the four teachers turned to him. "Um… never mind. Go back to what you were saying."

"I think we had covered everything Harry. I'm sure you have homework to be doing."

"I might…" Homework had never been Harry's priority. Harry walked to the door and slipped out quietly. Neville and Ginny were waiting there for him.

"Dumbledore's calling the aurors." A vast weight seemed to have been taken from his shoulders. "And he's not a teacher here anymore." Harry felt like crying again, he felt so light. It was over. He had _done it_. And he wasn't expelled or dead or anything. "The mandrake draft won't take that much longer to get ready then we can tell the others." Was he crying? He couldn't tell. The relief was just too much.

"Its really over?" Ginny asked, stepping closer.

"Yes." Harry breathed. "It is… For this year!" Harry grinned and hugged his two friends. "I'm sure next year will be much more interesting!"

Harry somehow reached his bed in Gryffindor tower and crawled in. It was only seven o' clock but he didn't really care, he had lost enough sleep over the past year that he held no embarrassment over going to sleep at this hour. Neville and Ginny were doing the rounds, telling everyone the good news. He could hear people moving around downstairs and above him but he just burrowed further into his blankets. His childhood had taught him to sleep through most anything. How far he'd come from that. Harry drifted off to sleep.

He walked along Tottenham court road in his Hogwarts robes, no one noticed. It was full of people but not one of them moved. Petrified. All of them. Harry walked up the street and ducked into an orchard, apple blossoms fell everywhere. Perhaps he was safe here? No, he had to get back to Hogwarts. He turned back to the entrance to head back to the road.

"You wouldn't last _five seconds_ in a duel with me."

Harry spun at the sound of Markus Michelson's voice but instead of the teacher he saw himself. Looking down at him condescendingly.

"You're not good enough."

Harry blinked and it was Dumbledore looking down at him with eyes full of sorrow.

"I'm so sorry."

Harry blinked again and he was alone with the blossoms. He could hear the river nearby running fast over rocks. Harry turned and hurried out of the orchard. The road was empty like before and Harry hurried towards Hogwarts, ducking through an alleyway and breaking into a run to get there quicker.

The ivy was longer than he remembered but eventually he climbed up to the gate of the castle. He pushed the great doors open and walked into the great hall. It was empty but the walls were covered in murals. Little finger paintings like children would do. He could still hear the river but it sounded closer now. He could even feel the spray on his face. His face was cold. Deathly cold. _Wake up_. What?

"_Wake up!_"

Harry opened his eyes and looked straight up at Moaning Myrtle. She was floating over his bed, right over his face.

"Myrtle?" He said, still groggy and disorientated.

"You have to come. Please! He's got Ginny!" Harry jerked upright and fell out of bed.

"What!"

"Flint took Ginny! I saw him, and he has the diary!"

"How? Dumbledore has… No…" Harry staggered over to Neville's bed and jerked the boy out of bed.

"Harry?" The last remaining marauder brushed his hair out of his eyes. "What is it?"

"Its not over Neville." Harry followed the floating form of Myrtle at a run out of the door. "It's not over!"

Myrtle stopped outside Markus Michelson's office and Harry didn't have to be told that something had happened here. A whole new level of carnage had been added over the one that had been present here last night. The door itself had been totally stove in, the frame itself lying in pieces on the floor. Harry stepped in with trepidation.

The smell of blood hit him. Behind him he could hear Neville retching on the floor. The room was unrecognisable, not a thing had escaped the destruction. Harry moved forward towards the forlorn figure in the centre, slumped against the desk. Markus Michelson.

His wand was in one hand and his sword lay discarded on the floor. He was covered in wounds and one of his legs was bent in an odd way. And the handkerchief he usually wore draped around his neck had moved up. He'd tied it around his eyes. Harry stepped closer and pulled it off him. His head lolled to the side lifelessly.

Harry put his fingers to Michelson's neck, not really expecting anything but was rewarded with a weak pulse.

"Myrtle!" He yelled. "Run and get Madam Pomfrey!" He turned back to the teacher. "Markus! Markus Michelson! Markus Maximus Mighty Magesto Michelson!"

"You remembered all of them…" The voice from the teacher was almost beyond hearing. "…people usually don't."

"I didn't remember all of them." Harry smiled wanly. "I forgot Mary and Mucus. Madam Pomfrey will be here in a second. You'll be alright."

"Not alright… basilisk venom… lethal… always…" Markus' voice kept fading in and out. "He took… the girl."

"Did you see where?"

"Tried to protect her… Tried to stop him…" Harry's insides turned to ice. He'd been so very wrong about this man. "Hard to fight… when you can't… Sure I hit it once or twice… Did I ever tell you about… this time I was in Brazil?"

"No. Tell me when you're better."

"Bit me just once… on purpose… wanted me to be awake… give you message."

"Message?" Harry waved Neville in closer so he could hear too.

"Come to the chamber… come or she dies… bring teachers… and she dies."

Harry swallowed. His heart was beating in tune with his terror.

"Where? Where's the chamber?"

"He said… bathroom… girl ghost…"

"Myrtle's bathroom?" Markus nodded. "Is there a password?"

"Password's…" Markus seemed to be fading out. "… open… he said open…"

"That simple?" Harry asked. Markus nodded then slumped.

"… Sword?" Harry frowned, not understanding, then saw the fingers of Markus' hand twitching. He moved the sword into his hand and saw Markus' fingers curl around it limply. "…thanks… pipsque…" but then his eyes closed and he stopped speaking.

A moment later Harry heard running feet and Madam Pomfrey ran in followed by a floating Myrtle.

"What happened here?" She demanded. Harry flapped his hands uncertainly but Neville saved him.

"Basilisk bit him. Conscious when we found him dropped off a second ago. Shallow pulse. Cold." Neville rattled that off in one breath and Madam Pomfrey instantly grimaced and pulled her bag open. Rummaging around in the bottom she pulled out a long red feather.

"Fawkes!" She gripped the feather in both hands. "Help me."

Harry never heard whether her call was answered as he had already darted out the door and was sprinting for the second floor.

Harry smashed through the door at a run and skidded to a stop on the tiles.

"OPEN!" Harry yelled.

"What are you doing in here." A girl pushed out of a cubical. "This is a girls bathroom you know?" Harry drew his wand and blew a sink off the wall. The girl cried and jumped away from him.

"You have three seconds to get the hell out of here!" The girl was gone before he'd counted to two. "Open! Open up!"

"Harry are you alright?" Harry spun and noticed Neville and Myrtle in the doorway.

"Its not working!"

"Maybe that's not the password. Maybe he was delirious." Neville bit his lip in worry.

"Then what do we do!?" Harry threw his hands up. "We don't even know where the entrance _is!_"

"I think I do." Myrtle volunteered.

"You do!"

"There are some places in Hogwarts that the ghosts can't go. They're warded against us. Dumbledore's office for example." Myrtle pointed to one of the sinks. "There's a pipe behind there, I can do down it below the dungeons but no further. Its blocked."

Harry ran up to where Myrtle floated in the air, threw his arms around her and kissed her floating cheek. "You are a true marauder Myrtle. One of us. You are amazing!" Harry released the startled ghost and ran to the sink. "Open!" But the sink didn't move. "No… But that's got to be the entrance!"

"What do we do?" Neville asked. "Go around?"

"Yes! That's perfect!" Harry turned to the pink glowing ghost nearby. "Myrtle, you know the pipes around Hogwarts. Is there another way to get down to the same place as this pipe goes?"

"I… I think so…" She said dreamily.

"Take us there, please!" The ghost flowed out through a wall and Harry was running again to keep up. They ran passed startled students until Myrtle came to rest in a disused classroom on the third floor.

"Through here." She said and disappeared into the wall.

"Myrtle!" Her head reappeared. "We need a way _we_ can go!"

"There isn't one." Myrtle floated out to stand next to them. "Its all walled up."

"Then what…" Harry began but Neville had already stepped up beside him.

"_Reducto!_" An almighty crack made Harry cover his ears and chips of stonework flew everywhere.

"Alright!" Harry yelled as soon as the noise died down. _"Reducto!"_

"Reducto!"

"Reducto!"

"Reducto!"

"Reducto!" Harry blasted the last of the rubble from the hole they had made in the wall. He heard murmurs in the nearby corridor. "_Colloportus._" Harry sealed the door shut.

"I'll go first." Harry stepped into the dusty pipe and gripped his wand between his teeth as he shimmied down. After he had lost sight of the entrance he heard Neville begin above him.

After a tortuous few minutes Harry dropped into a tiny round passage and got out of the way so that Neville could drop down behind him. It was pitch black but was soon lit with a faint wan light as Myrtle floated through the ceiling. They wordlessly followed her. After many squelching meters they emerged into a larger chamber.

"Here we are." Myrtle announced importantly. "The _Via Mortiferus._"


	15. Blood War: 8

Harry Potter and the Blood War Chapter 8: The Via Mortiferus

It was a broad stone room, the stones underfoot slick and stinking. A tiny rivulet of dirty water ran from the entrance of the room to a giant hole in the floor. Underneath there was a massive sloping pipe, twice the width of a tube train. It was clogged with debris and garbage in places and the tiny drip of water made the pipe slick as glass.

"There?" Harry asked. Myrtle nodded. "We don't even know if this is the right way."

"I think we do." Neville pointed at a corner of the room where a load of green shapeless scraps were lying. Harry took a closer look.

"Snake skin?" Harry gulped.

"From a big snake."

Harry looked back down the pipe. There was no way someone could go down that and not hit the garbage drifts. Some of them had broken bottles or pieces of metal in them.

"We can't just slide down, we'll be killed." Harry shook his head. "Maybe if we blast all the stuff we can see…"

"Then it'll be at the bottom waiting for you," Myrtle pointed out.

"I know!" Neville cried suddenly. He ran over and grabbed the two biggest pieces of snake skin. "Think Basilisk skin is as tough as Dragon skin?"

"Can I hope it's tough enough to save us up here…" Harry wrapped his piece around him as tightly as possible. "… but not so tough the Basilisk kills us when we get there?"

Neville smiled wanly.

"Neville whichever of us gets there gets Ginny out." Harry met his friend's eyes and moved closer. "We don't worry about anything else."

"I know Harry." Neville nodded.

"I can't follow you," Myrtle sniffed. "But if you die you're welcome to share my toilet. Either of you."

"Death doesn't seem so scary now eh?" Harry grinned and moved to the edge. "Well…" Harry tilted his head up and closed his eyes. "Could use some of that luck now…" And with that Harry jumped off the edge.

Harry felt the stone skidding under him even through the snake skin. He was traveling faster than he thought and it was only a moment before he smashed into a garbage pile. It felt like he was being smashed with clubs but the skin didn't break and he kept going. Another smacked into his legs and set him spinning across the pipe like a top.

He could hear Neville screaming but couldn't see him. Another heap took him in the chest and soon he was screaming too. The whole world reduced to the moving stone under him, his own screaming in his ears and the sudden excruciating bursts of pain as he hit things.

The hits became less and less frequent as Harry fell and he at last opened his eyes. As soon as he did so his feet hit water and he went under. Harry's mind went blank. Get out! Get out! Get out! He flailed wildly against the skin that was still wrapped around him and managed to slip out. Surface! Air! Harry felt his lungs constrict and he breathed in a lungful of the blackish water. His chest felt like fire. His foot touched bottom and he kicked out as hard as he could. His head broke the surface and Harry half coughed, half vomited up the water he'd breathed in plus everything he'd eaten in his entire life. Shaking, he stood up and pushed his gunk-filled fringe out of his eyes. Then he realised what he had done and looked down.

The water barely reached over his hips.

The realisation made him gag again and he emptied another load of bile into the already mucky water. He reached into his robes and pulled out his wand, thankfully undamaged. He lit it and surveyed the scene. He was in a tunnel, waist deep with disgusting black water full of general garbage. It went on for a ways in both directions, then turned off into junctions and split away into darkness. God it was cold down here. Harry saw his Basilisk skin floating nearby and wrapped it around his shoulders like a cloak. A fixing charm made sure it stayed there, not that it helped much.

Then Harry realised something. Neville wasn't there; he had been right behind him a moment ago. Harry looked back up the pipe he'd fallen out of but there was nothing as far as he could see. There had been turnings off the pipe. He must have just been shunted a different way by the garbage. At least, Harry hoped that was all that had happened. Hopefully they'd find each other eventually. He saw a kitchen knife floating by its handle nearby and grabbed it. With shaky fingers he scratched an H into the wall next to him, followed by an arrow. Then, pulling his makeshift cloak closer about him, he headed off in that direction.

Harry slogged through the water until he came to a junction. It was impossible to tell which way was right, so Harry just scrawled another marker on the wall and kept going. He had no idea how long he walked through that freezing water. How many arrows he scrawled on the walls. Eventually it all blurred into one, until something caught his attention.

Skeletons. Lots of them, floating in the water. Not food animals either, rats and small birds. Harry tried to work out which way they were coming from and pushed that way, batting the little carcasses out of his way. There was a break in the brickwork here. Just big enough for a big snake or a small boy to crawl through. Harry dragged himself up and looked around. He was on the floor behind a giant pillar carved with serpents. He looked up and saw a bank of them at the other side of the vast chamber.

"Ah, Mr Potter. You have chosen to grace us with your presence."

The voice came from somewhere he couldn't see. On the other side of the pillar somewhere. It sounded like Flint's voice but the words didn't seem like ones he's choose.

"You might as well come out; I've been waiting for you."

Harry was too tired to come up with a better idea and stood on numb legs. He walked out slowly from behind the pillar. Flint stood proudly in front of a monstrous statue. Ginny was lying still by his feet, unconscious. But was it Flint? It was almost as if a shadow was overlaid over the Slytherin's stocky frame. A shadow of a taller man, thin and cold, with high cheekbones.

"Hello Tom." Harry stopped in the middle of the room a few meters from the shadowy half-figure. He had his wand gripped tight in his right hand and a solid knife in his left. He knew he looked horrific, he was probably swaying, but he felt as strong as he had ever been.

"Hello Harry. Why in Merlin's name didn't you just use the front door?" Tom/Flint laughed chillingly.

"You gave me the wrong password. I said 'open' but it didn't work."

"Ah… I told him the password was _Sizzasc_, Parseltongue for 'open'. He must have got confused. That can happen when you're dying, or so I'm told."

"By the end of the day I can guarantee you'll know for sure."

The split apparition laughed again and Harry could swear he heard two voices there. A gravely deep one and a smoother nasal one.

"Can I ask you one thing?" Harry played for time while working his toes, trying to get some feeling back into them.

"Ask away Mr Potter. A condemned man should have his questions answered."

"How did you get the diary back from Dumbledore?" Harry was genuinely curious.

"Oh… that is an interesting one." Tom grinned. "The truth is the old fool never had the diary."

"?"

"Let me start at the beginning. With poor Ginny Weasley, you do know that she was responsible for the first few petrifications?"

"I guessed."

"Good. It's good to know you're not a fool. Like her." Tom kicked the prone body in front of him. "I took control of her to open the chamber and scrawl my call to arms on the wall. But it backfired on me, during one of the fights I had so wanted to cause the diary fell from her bag. And it was spotted by _Markus Michelson_."

Harry thought back. He remembered seeing Markus picking up Ginny's book bag after the fight the day she lost it.

"He recognised that it was a cursed object if not just _how_ cursed and, in his arrogance, thought he could deal with it himself. He fought me with his magic every night, trying to find a way to destroy the book."

"And he looked more tired every day…" Harry shook his head. He had so badly misjudged the man.

"And then something wonderful happened!" Tom spread his arms wide. "While on a detention for the insufferable Michelson a wonderful man chanced upon the diary. Marcus Flint. His father had been one of my servants during my rise to power and had told his son my true name." Tom paused. "An offence which in normal circumstances I would punish him for, but in this case it has come to a good end. Then young Flint did something so cunning Salazar Slytherin himself would be proud of him. He constructed a _fake diary_."

"Oh…" the pieces began to fall into place in Harry's head once more.

"Only capable of simple phrases obviously. '_I am Tom Riddle_', '_I will never tell you my secrets_', that kind of thing. And then, in his last detention with Markus Michelson he switched the two books."

"Michelson didn't notice the difference?"

"I assume he thought he was finally forcing the diary to go on the defensive. Finally _winning_." Tom laughed the peculiar double laugh again. "And in the mean time I finally had a willing servant. One I didn't have to manipulate or control. Oh, no, he wanted me to control him. Wanted the power." Tom reached up and patted Flint on the shoulder. It was the first motion the shadow had made that Flint hadn't done as well. "I initially thought I would drain his energy to return to the world. He was indeed wiling to make that sacrifice to help me but I decided that he is simply too useful to me." The apparition glanced down at the figure at his feet. "Instead I will use hers."

"What!" Harry took an involuntary step forward.

"Yes, Harry Potter. I will drain her and return. You think I told you that long winded story because I wanted to? That I was stupid enough to let you buy time like that? No… by buying time you have been giving _me_ time to grow stronger. And what have you gained?"

"Well, I can feel my fingers now…" Harry grinned through the muck covering his face. A truly evil grin. "Oh, when you come back you'll probably need a wand."

"I…"

"Here have mine." Harry held his wand out and tossed it lazily through the air.

Voldemort wore a shocked expression as the wand landed in his outstretched palm.

"Potter-" But he got no further as Harry's knife stabbed deep into his chest.

"… and you need nimble fingers for knife throwing."

"…." Tom tried to speak but only a croak came out. A trickle of blood drew down the side of his mouth. Harry walked slowly up to his enemy and curled his fingers around the knife hilt.

"Confused yet you motherfucker?" Harry tore the knife out and Voldemort collapsed onto the ground spurting blood. Harry grabbed his wand and nicked Flint's for good measure, then stumbled shakily over Ginny prone form.

"Hey Gin…" Harry shook her, trying vainly to wake her. "Ginny?" She didn't stir. Her skin didn't even feel warm. "Wake up…"

"Ssssss…" Harry turned in a flash. Tom had his eyes open and a serpentine hiss escaped his mouth. "Saseeciss. Sassozziss. Sss…" Harry ran up and savagely kicked him in the jaw. But the damage was done. With a grinding noise the mouth of the great statue opened and Harry saw a flash of green before he turned away in fear.

"Ginny we need to go!" Harry tried to lift her and failed. He would have found it hard going if he hadn't just gone through torment. As it was he settled for dragging her across the floor by an arm while the hissing got closer. Harry aimed a hex over his shoulder without looking but apparently it didn't connect because the Hissing got closer. It was catching up. Harry abandoned Ginny and ran to the other side of the room yelling "Hey! Over here! Me!" but he tripped and spun as he fell. Without thinking he looked right into the face of the Basilisk.

And laughed! It was a wreck! A giant burn stretched half the length of its side and the tip of its tail was a burnt off stump. A massive slash marred its throat below its head and, most importantly, its eyes were gone. Replaced by a gaping wound.

Markus Michelson had got in more than a few shots!

Unfortunately Harry had waited too long staring and his laugh had told it where he was. It dived and bit down around him. Harry had no chance to dodge, he felt like he had been put in a vice, pressing down on his chest all around and he cried out hoarsely. He thought he heard his ribs crack then the pressure lifted and he staggered back. The Basilisk looked, if anything, confused.

Harry checked himself over. Hurting, bruised, broken ribs but no teeth marks and no poison. Harry's hand fell on the silvery-green, makeshift cloak he had around his shoulders and started in shock.

It couldn't bite through its own skin!

Harry got up from where he was kneeling on the floor and tightened his grip on his wand. It was wounded, its master was gone and he had a cloak it couldn't bite through.

"Hey you! Ugly!" The Basilisks head snapped around just in time to have an _Incendio_ spell hit it right in the mess where its eyes had been. Its screech of pain was inhuman and it writhed its massive coils in torment. "_Acerbus cuspis!_" Harry sent the pain-spear winging straight into the massive burn on its side and was rewarded with another shriek. It smashed its tail around, trying to knock him over but he just ducked and fired a stinging hex into a gaping wound he hadn't even noticed before.

"Here!" Harry yelled again and as its head whirled around he sent another curse into its face. But this one missed and the great snake lunged forward and bit Harry around the legs. The only part of him unprotected by the cloak.

Harry felt a burning pain as a tooth pierced his leg. He felt himself being lifted into the air and cried out again. It was holding him up in its mouth like a dead rat. Harry clung to its snout and with the last of his strength plunged his wand into the mess that had been its eyes.

"_Reducto!_" There was an explosive sound and Harry felt himself fly through the air and hit the floor hard. As he looked up through bleary eyes he saw the Basilisk swaying in the air. Blood gushed from its mouth and eyes like some perverted fountain and it screeched like nails on a chalkboard. Then, with one last cry, it went still and fell like a great tree, crashing onto the stone and lying there still.

He had _done_ it.

Harry dragged himself back to lean against a pillar. He looked down at his leg. Yep, there was a huge tooth hole right there in his thigh. No escaping it. Harry gulped then smiled. He supposed it didn't matter if he was dying. His hand reached up into his shirt and held tight to the pendent there.

"You knew I could do it," Harry whispered. "You knew I could do it."

"Harry?" Harry glanced across and saw Neville's round face poking out from the hole in the wall. He has glancing between Harry and the giant serpent.

"Ginny's there." Harry tried to point but found he couldn't. Neville got the message though and disappeared. He reappeared a moment later carrying Ginny in his arms.

"Harry can you get up?"

"No Neville, I can't." Harry managed a wry smile. "Sorry."

"Harry…"

"Can you get out? I don't…"

"It's OK. While I was looking for this place I found a pipe that lets out near the lake. I can get back there. I left markers."

"You left marks…" Harry suddenly couldn't keep from laughing. "I taught you… you left marks…"

"Yeah Harry." Neville sat down beside him and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. His face said that he knew Harry wasn't getting out of there. "Just like you did. That's how I found you."

"You did it right… I did it right." Harry looked at the dead serpent. "I did it right. Get her out." Harry ordered and Neville stood.

"We'll be back for you. You know your…" Neville stopped and rubbed his eyes. He was crying. "We won't leave you down here."

"I know. Go."

Neville was shaking as he made his way to the crack in the wall and pushed himself through. Then pulled Ginny after him.

Harry leaned back and closed his eyes.

"How sentimental."

Harry's eyes flickered open and he saw Tom Riddle leaning casually against the great bulk of the Basilisk. He wasn't fuzzy or transparent anymore, he was solid. And he had a wand.

"You took yours and Flint's wands." Tom answered his question before he asked it. "But you forgot about Ginny's."

"Oh…" Harry glanced at the crack in the wall. Neville's light was still visible, slowly passing away.

"Go on, call for help. He can probably still hear you."

Harry kept his mouth tight shut. Neville was getting out with Ginny. That was all that mattered.

"Good choice." Voldemort moved forward and snatched Harry's wand from his unresisting hand. He threw it into the shadows by the great statue. As an afterthought he sent Flint's wand and the knife after it.

"As he was dying Mr Flint preformed me one last service." Voldemort smiled. "He gifted his remaining life to me. Restoring me." Voldemort moved even closer. Harry tried to slide himself away but found he didn't have the energy, the poison had almost run its course. His eyes flickered back to the crack in the wall. It was totally dark. Neville was truly gone.

"Lord Voldemort. Killed by a _knife_?" Tom Riddle shook his head. "Never. It could never happen."

"Fine," Harry mumbled. "Give me back the knife."

"No Harry." Tom raised his wand. "I think I will err on the side of safety in this matter. I think I will simply kill you. Now. _Ava_-"

But he got no further as the massive door to the chamber was flung open. Tom Riddle stepped back in shock as the room was filled with glowing golden light.

"Get the hell away from him!" Framed by the doorway and glistening with water and sweat stood Markus Michelson, sword in one had, wand in the other and with Dumbledore's phoenix circling above him. Bathing the room in light.

"_You!_" Tom aimed a dark purple curse at Markus, who shot it out of the air with a silver one of his own.

"Yes. ME!" The teacher strode forward and smashed a hex into Tom Riddle's hastily raised shield.

"Markus!" A second hex drove Riddle further from Harry.

"Maximus!" Tom Riddle shot a spell back but it was easily deflected.

"Mighty!" Tom Riddle yelled something unintelligible and a giant shard of steel sprang into being and shot towards the teacher. Markus just swatted it away with his sword.

"Magesto!" A massive black curse that looked like it was made of tar drove Tom to his knees.

"Mary! Mucus! Michelson!" The teacher drew level with Harry and stopped, his wand vibrating in his hand. "And you will _not_ touch him you sick, dead freak!"

Harry noticed the phoenix land beside him but ignored it. If he was going to die then we was going spend his last few minute enjoying the show.

"You dare to challenge me!" Tom Riddle stood from where he had been thrown. "I am the Dark Lord!"

"Wrong!" Michelson barked. "You are the Dark Lord at age eighteen! Not even that, you're a shade of the Dark Lords teenage self! A shadow! A lie!"

Harry could now see why Dumbledore had hired this man. He came off as a fool most of the time but that was because he wanted to. He saw no reason to be serious all the time. But actually get him into a fight and he became like red-hot iron.

"I am the Dark Lord! Lord Voldemort! _Avada Kedavra!_" A jet of green light shot across the room but Markus Michelson yelled something and a chunk of stonework broke off of the wall, smashing into the curse as it flew.

"_Orbitus!_" Markus yelled and chunks of floor around him were ripped from the earth. They began the spin around him like planets and he advanced on the juvenile Dark Lord like the wrath of worlds.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Michelson didn't even blink, just let the curse impact itself on one of the orbiting rocks. Even through the shower of gravel he kept walking.

"_AgniparvataH!_" Michelson yelled and a glowing symbol flew across the room and exploded on a silver shield that Tom Riddle had made. Even so it caused the stones around him to glow white hot and crack under the strain.

It was at approximately this point that Harry realised he wasn't dead. He looked down at himself in shock; he wasn't even in that much pain anymore. Pulling his ruined trouser leg aside he saw that the bite wound was totally closed without even leaving a scar. He looked at the bright red bird that had alighted next to him and grinned. It looked like he was going to live another day.

"_Maquixtia!_" The cry brought Harry back to the moment as he saw Professor Michelson break out of a prison of massive black vines and creepers. "_KhaNDana!_" A bolt of blue light bounced of Tom Riddles shield. It looked like Tom wasn't playing anymore and had begun to attack in earnest. Already Professor Michelson had been forced to give ground and almost all of his rocks were gone.

He had to do something to help!

Harry cast about for a weapon but his wand and knife were too far away. His eyes came to rest on the blackened diary lying discarded on the floor. Ah…

Harry crawled down behind the corpse of the Basilisk, ignoring the spells that occasionally winged over him, until he was crouched behind the remains of the tail with the little book a few meters away. Harry glanced back at the fight and waited for the right moment. Unfortunately he could not wait long…

Voldemort twisted his wand in the air and jabbed it upwards like a spear. A shining star of flickering lightning exploded above him like a nova. Swinging his wand down he flung it at Professor Michelson. The teacher's shield shattered like glass and he screamed in pain as the lightning struck him. Harry knew he had to act now! He darted out from behind the Basilisk and grabbed the book.

"Drop him!" Harry yelled at the Dark Lord. "Drop him or I'll destroy it!"

"Hm…?" Voldemort turned to look at Harry. The lightning stopped but Professor Michelson didn't move from the floor where he had fallen. Voldemort crossed his arms and stared at Harry mockingly. "How?"

"I'll just… Oh…" Harry cringed a memory from earlier stung him. Professor Michelson had tried for weeks to destroy this thing. Harry opened it and tried to tear a page off. It felt like paper but for the life of him he couldn't so much as scratch the surface. Harry looked up at the quietly chuckling Dark Lord. "How embarrassing."

"I take it back Mr Potter," Tom Riddle said raising his wand. "You are a fool."

But Harry felt a weight land on his shoulder. He looked up to see the Phoenix that had healed him standing there. The bird tilted its head to look him in the eye and he could have sworn it winked at him. Then it spread its beautiful scarlet wings and burst into flame.

Harry screamed as the fire curled up around his head but then jerked back in shock, it wasn't burning him! He felt the flames wreath all around him but they felt more like a warm breeze. They covered his face and eyes and he could see nothing but a wall of light. Harry felt something in his hand shift, he wasn't burning but the diary was!

Harry held the diary in front of him and felt the claws on his shoulder release for a moment then felt the weight transfer to his arm. Somewhere outside the flame someone was screaming but Harry couldn't tell who. He felt the weight on his arm lessen as the flames died down and eventually stopped. Harry felt the last flame recede and stood for a moment, completely disbelieving. Something about what he had just gone through didn't feel normal or even magical. It felt somehow greater, older and far more powerful.

Harry realised he still held his hand out in front of him, clenched. He released it and watched as black ash slowly trickled out from between his fingers. Right in the middle was a tiny ugly chick that looked up at him with its featherless face. Of the diary there was nothing.

Harry looked around the now battle-scarred chamber. There was a giant burn mark right where Tom Riddle had been standing. Not even ashes had been left of him. Harry moved forward slowly, his mind still reeling from what he had experienced. He came to a stop in the middle of the room and fell down on his knees, unable to walk further. He cradled the little bird in his hands and asked it…

"What the hell just happened to me?" The bird just chirruped in response but another voice gave Harry an answer.

"Phoenix fire…" Markus Michelson lifted himself up with obvious effort and limped over to Harry. "…it only burns up evil." The professor sat down and began running his wand over his muscular arms, fixing the burns and bruising.

"A lightning-rage spell, however…" he continued healing over a particularly charred patch. "…burns anyone. Oh snap out of it kid!" He added seeing Harry's shaken expression. "I've only ever heard third hand stories of people who were actually inside a phoenix's rebirth flame and they all agree it's an experience. None of them say it renders you catatonic!"

"Wha?… yeah sorry." Harry shook his head to clear it and looked over at his teacher's healing efforts. "Do you need any help with that?"

"Just spot me any bits I've missed pipsqueak. Well, suppose I shouldn't call you that now…" Michelson gestured at the Basilisk with a grin. "…but now you won't have any excuse for low marks eh?"

"Yeah…" But the Professor's use of his nickname had reminded him of something else and he felt guilt bubble up in his veins. "I treated you pretty badly this term." Harry hung his head. He didn't want to meet Markus Michelson's eyes.

"Really? How so?"

"I thought you were the one behind the attacks. I broke into your office. Twice." Harry shook his head but didn't look up. "I helped all the rumours against you, started most of them. I threatened to kill you. I got you fired. I almost got you arrested. And then you almost died protecting one of my friends. I'm… I'm so sorry." Harry forced himself to look up and meet his teacher's eyes. Michelson had stopped his healing and was looking at Harry with just a hint of a smile.

"Oh… that." Markus Michelson smiled broadly and clapped Harry on the arm. "Don't worry about that."

"What? But…"

"Harry I thought you understood. You gave me my sword when I was dying." Professor Michelson was speaking as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Then I saved your life. Then you saved mine. We're warrior-brothers now." The giant man reached out and held both Harry's shoulders. "Brothers at arms."

"Brothers at arms?" Michelson nodded. "That a wizard thing?"

"Sure…" Markus Michelson pulled him to his feet and preformed a quick drying charm. "… in certain Scandinavian magical cultures."

"Good enough for me then." Harry grinned. "So… How do we get out of here?"

"…and then Flint, he grabbed me." Ginny Weasley clutched her mother's hand as she sobbed and shuddered through her story. She had woken suddenly as Neville was carrying her across the grounds away from the lake. When they reached the castle they had been mobbed by teachers and dragged almost bodily up to the Headmaster's office. Her parents had been there (her mother crying, her father ashen-faced and grim) and she had been enveloped in a giant wet hug.

But as soon as Madam Pomfrey had said that she was unharmed the questions had begun and she had been forced to haltingly tell her story, starting with the first time she found the diary mixed in with her books. Neville hadn't said anything since she had woke up. He had just curled up in an armchair and stared out with empty eyes. She knew something was wrong but he wouldn't say anything, she just hoped he found his voice again now her part of the story was over.

"… and then he did some spell on me and I blacked out." Ginny looked over at Neville hopefully. She saw Dumbledore's gaze move to the poor nervous boy.

"Mr Longbottom?" The Headmaster moved over and placed his hand on Neville's shoulder. "Please…"

"We… me and Har…" Neville cut himself off and bit back a sob. He looked back up and kept talking in a hollow voice. "We found Professor Michelson dying. He said we had to go find Ginny, that if we told any teachers then Flint would kill her. We broke our way into the pipes, slid down. I got separated from Ha… We got separated. When I found him the Basilisk was dead. He'd killed it, but…" The room was silent as Neville wrapped his arms around himself and broke into tears. "…He's dead! It bit him! He's dead."

Ginny felt her mother's fingers clench around her arm and looked up. Molly Weasley was shaking her head in disbelief. Ginny looked back at the Headmaster. The old man had backed away and collapsed into a chair. His usually sparkling eyes were dead and empty.

For her own part she just shook her head.

"No!" Ginny felt the room turn to her. "He's not dead!" She dashed the tears out of her eyes. "He wouldn't die! He can't!"

"Ginevra…" Her mother had pulled her closer. "… I know it seems like that but…"

"No! He needs to be here!"

Her mother just moved to stroke her hair.

"Ginny please…" another voice called out. "…If you keep telling them I'm alive you'll ruin my dramatic entrance."

Harry looked out across the office and laughed at the various expressions of shock.

"Wooo…" Harry wiggled his fingers at them. "I've come back to haunt you!" But he got no further as Ginny dashed at him and tackled him to the ground.

"You're alive! You're alive!"

"Oh so _now_ it's a big shock." Harry grinned as he lifted Ginny off him and levered himself to his feet. He kept one hand on his friend's shoulder for support and walked further into the office. He stopped suddenly as he caught sight of a figure he thought he vaguely recognised. A white haired man with a long cane, topped with a crystal. He was staring down his nose at Harry with scarcely concealed contempt.

"Who's this bastard?" Harry jerked his head at the man and he felt Ginny stifle a giggle. Even Professor McGonagall (who would have usually yelled at him for such language) seemed to be concealing a small smile behind her hand.

"My name is Lucius Malfoy." The man's voice didn't bother to conceal the contempt. "And I am here as a representing the school governors and their opinions on this… unpleasantness."

"I remember you now." Harry pointed at the man. "I asked you the way onto platform nine and three quarters before I met the Weasleys. You tripped me up and laughed." Harry felt the air in the room cool by an appreciable degree. "And the unpleasantness is over. You can go."

"Oh yes? And do we simply take your word for it?" Lucius sneered at Harry. For the first time Harry noticed the scrawny figure crouching behind him. Dobby the house elf was attempting to hide behind his master.

"I can show you the Basilisk's corpse if you like." Harry realised he was still wearing clothes caked in mud and blood and held them out for Lucius to see. "You slide through garbage, land in faeces and drag yourself through a mile or so of freezing, putrid sewage. Anyone know a good dry-cleaners?"

"Is that what all that is? I just assumed it was your normal clothes." Lucius sneered at him. "You are a street urchin are you not?"

"Look…" Harry eased forwards until he was standing unsupported. "… I've had a long day. A long, _unpleasant_ day. Just get out. You're not needed here."

Lucius Malfoy smiled.

"I was leaving anyway. The stink in here is unbearable." And with that the man strode towards the door to the office. Harry saw Dobby follow him cringing and said…

"You know. I wasn't joking about the mile of freezing sewage." Both Lucius and Dobby turned back to him. "In the end I couldn't even feel anything but I kept dragging myself forward. Because I knew I had to and so nothing else mattered." Harry glanced down and caught Dobby's eyes. "Almost nothing is impossible if you just push through. Just keep walking towards what you want, one step at a time."

"How uplifting." Lucius turned. "Come Dobby." He began to walk until a small voice brought the whole room to a stop.

"No."

Lucius turned, his face a mask of disbelief.

"What?" But Dobby had begun to move, walking very slowly away. "Come back here now!" Dobby cringed and his feet seemed to twist of their own accord.

"One step at a time." Harry knelt down and reached out his hands towards the elf. "Come on…"

Shuddering so badly it looked like he was one step away from a fit, Dobby continued his silent walk.

"Dobby, obey me!" Dobby cried out and fell to his knees but continued forward at a crawl. As he reached Harry's outstretched arms his shuddering stopped and he fell to the ground in tears. Harry gathered him up as he sobbed and sniffled through his long nose.

"You have subverted my servant!" Lucius Malfoy's face was twitching with barely controlled rage and his hand seemed to twitch on his wand.

"You should have taken better care of him," Harry replied levelly, staring the man down. "Go now. Just gather your precious shreds of pride and go." Lucius Malfoy drew himself up.

"Fine, I don't need a disobedient servant." He tossed one of his gloves on the floor near the elf and stalked away. Harry let out a long breath. The sobbing elf in his arms reached out without looking and snatched the glove from the floor. Dobby clutched it to his chest with both hands but didn't stop crying. Harry glanced back over his shoulder at the shocked face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Room in the kitchens for another elf, Headmaster?" Dumbledore blinked in surprise, then smiled. "I think this one needs a good home."

"You have given me a lot of shocks today Harry," Dumbledore spoke to the boy sitting on the other side of his desk. The Weasleys had gone home, Dobby had been taken down to see the kitchens and Neville and Ginny had returned to the tower for some much needed rest. Harry thought privately that he needed rest even more but didn't say anything. Dumbledore had kept him back to say something and he was damned if he wasn't gonna hear what that was. "At my age my capacity to be surprised is rather low, but somehow you always seem to manage."

"I'm always unexpected." Harry grinned.

"Yes, you are." Dumbledore met Harry's green eyes with his own sparkling ones. "I fear I misjudged you this year Harry. I gave you discipline when I should have given guidance and I lectured when I should have listened. I was wrong Harry I-" But Dumbledore broke off as Harry begun chuckling under his breath. "Something amusing?"

"Just a little sense of déjà vu." Harry smiled as he recalled the events not even an hour ago. "Only I was on the other side. Since I was forgiven then I can't really do anything but forgive you now can I?" Harry grinned at the Headmaster. "It's ok, really."

"Very well Harry." Dumbledore leant back in his chair. "But I do believe some reward is in order for your heroics today. I believe an award for special service to the school for yourself and Mr Longbottom would-"

"Professor, I don't know about Neville but could I ask for something else?" Harry saw the Headmaster's eyebrows rise in surprise. "It's just… there's this group of Slytherins, Vanessa Gibbons and Elizabeth Heathland and Joshua Split. Couple of others too. They'll know all the names if you ask them. They're the Muggleborn ones or the Half blood ones or Pure-Bloods that had the guts to stand up to Malfoy and Flint. They shouldn't have to go back to the dungeon. They shouldn't have to go back to where they have to live with the kind of abuse Malfoy and his like dole out. They're not safe there, and they shouldn't have to stay there just because some stupid hat told them to. I want you to let them change house." The office fell into silence again for a moment before Dumbledore answered.

"Once again Harry you manage to surprise me. But I'm afraid it is not possible, never in the History of Hogwarts has a student switched houses. And even though the sorting hat's choices seem strange sometimes, it always has the right idea about people."

"So what? So what if they're more cunning than they are smart or brave? Does it matter, does it mean they should have to live with people who think they're scum? Professor…" Harry raised his hand to stop the Headmaster retorting. "… you just saw a house elf drag himself across the floor to earn the right to choose. Just give these students the same chance. Please…?" Harry looked pleadingly at the headmaster and saw his words sink in. Dumbledore took his glasses off and rubbed his temples.

"First the sorting and now this. Will you only be happy when the entire school is Gryffindor?"

"I'll be happy when the entire school is happy. Or at least reasonably content. Come on Professor…" Harry added spreading his hands. "…I'm cold, I'm tired, I want a shower and I want to go to bed and we both know you're going to say yes."

Dumbledore's smile gave Harry his answer.

"Wait? It wasn't Markus Michelson."

"No Ron, it was Flint."

"But we knew it was Michelson."

"Apparently we're morons." Harry shrugged. The petrified students were only just being woken up. Each of their reaction had been uniquely priceless. Harry ticked them off in his head…

Joshua Split had been awoken with a kiss from Lucy Kingston and had promptly pulled the curtains around his bed to continue what she'd started.

Oliver Wood had gone from horizontal to vertical in a fraction of a second and yelled "Quidditch! Is it over? Did I miss it? Did we win?"

At first they had though the potion hadn't worked on Colin Creevey before they discovered that he'd woken up and fainted dead away when he saw Harry standing next to him.

Victor Kingston had run to the sound of his sister's voice when he woke up then run back out from behind the curtains yelling "My eyes! My eyes!"

And now the Marauders had joined them in the land of the living, Harry had spent the first few minutes explain what had happened in their absence and the next half hour fielding questions., most of them from Ron who couldn't quite seem to get his head round the idea.

"Honestly Ron." Hermione shook her head at him. "It all makes perfect sense when you know the diary was fake."

"But he did have the real diary."

"Yes but only for a while…"

Harry covered his ears and let Hermione explain the things she herself hadn't known an hour ago. She'd probably do a better job anyway.

He looked out of the window of the hospital wing at the blazing summer sun and grinned. Maybe it was time to begin making plans for the coming summer. Maybe he should get a guitar…

Harry saw Markus Michelson off at the gate, his trunks looking decidedly odd with various native artifacts strapped to the sides.

"Do you have to go?" Harry had asked while helping him load up his carriage.

"Never intended to stay," Markus quipped as he loaded a large wooden statue into the carriage. "Told you before, I was just taking a break from my travels."

"Where do you think you'll go?"

"Oh I don't know. Africa maybe…" Professor Michelson shrugged his wide shoulders. "… could try and get myself roped into a Nundu hunt. They're always fun."

"I'll take your word for it." Harry shook his head as he passed up a small carved statue. It was a snake, and looked quite old. "So, you always been a parselmouth?"

"No." Markus looked down at him grinning. "Some central American shamans practice demon summoning. I visited a tribe whose totem was a snake-god, almost all their ceremonies were parseltongue. That's where I learnt it. Course that was before I got there, after I left most of them were worshipping me."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Harry rolled his eyes chuckling as he tossed up the last box. "Guess that's everything."

"You know pipsqueak, I wasn't joking about the brothers thing." Markus Michelson reached out and put one of his big hands on Harry's shoulder. "You ever need me you know where I'll be."

"No I won't," Harry said with a grin. "But I'm sure Digger'll be able to find you." Michelson nodded.

"Take care of yourself kid."

"You too, Professor."

Harry watched as the carriage slowly moved out of sight around the bend in the road then slowly walked back up to the castle. When he reached his room he lay down and stared at the ceiling for a long time. There was someone else who had helped him this year, someone he really should have thanked a long time ago. Harry drew out a quill and started writing.

_I should have written to you a long time ago, but its been a hectic year. I don't know if you know already but things got pretty bad here._

Harry chewed the end of his quill; it was hard to know exactly what he was trying to say. In the end he settled for…

_Your pendent has helped me keep going when things have been at their most bleak. If that was it's magic was for then it's worked. It's worked like a charm._


	16. Torrent of Ages: 1

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 1: Meeting Harry Potter

Harry Potter dragged his feet as he trudged along the pavement down the once familiar road. This summer, like the last, had been fun and relaxing. Harry had lazed the majority of the holiday away in Spain, juggling, studying and learning to play the guitar that he now carried slung over his left shoulder. Well, learning and being taught.

Thinking that Dumbledore had probably had enough shocks the previous year Harry had negotiated his holiday instead of sneaking away like he had planned. The Headmaster had been happy to oblige him and had only really had two conditions, that he be near wizards and that he check in daily. Neither had been too much of a strain so Harry had chosen to visit the Spanish village near where the Academia Atsingani was located. Or at least where it was located currently: the school had been founded by Romani and had a tendency to move around the country at unpredictable intervals.

"What do you do if you're left behind?" Harry had asked one of the students living nearby while the young man showed him the rudiments of guitar playing.

"We hop on a broom and try to catch up." The entire school had a sort of _que sera, sera_ attitude that Harry found he liked.

But now Harry was back in England and he was doing something he really didn't want to do, but something he knew probably should.

Harry loved his new wizard life and had never missed any part of his old one. But still he felt like he needed to close that chapter properly. Close it so he knew he never had to come back. Harry took a deep breath and knocked on the door of number four Privet Drive. A moment later it was opened.

"Yes? What do you- _YOU!_"

"I don't want to stay." Harry held a hand up to silence his uncle. "I don't want to be here any more than you want me to be here. I just came back for the stuff I left, then I can leave and never come back."

"You left here! You can get out!" Vernon Dursley was even more fat and angry than Harry remembered. "We don't want you here! The day you left was the happiest of my life and if I don't see you gone from my property I'll…"

"You'll what, uncle?" Harry slid his wand from his pocket so his uncle had a clear view of it. The fat mans eyes bulged and all the blood seemed to drain from his face. "I know what I am now. Interesting that you never thought to tell me, but I know all the same. So I want my stuff. The small insignificant amount of possessions I was ever allowed under your roof. Then I'll be on my way."

"Y… I don't…." Vernon Dursley blustered but Harry just cocked his hear to one side as if to say 'well?'

"Get in then. Before the neighbours see you." Harry obligingly slid in thorough the front door and allowed his uncle to slam it closed behind him. "Petunia!" Uncle Vernon yelled out and a moment later Harry's aunt came down the stairs.

"What is it dear? Is… oh…"

"Long time no see." Harry grinned at her shocked expression. "Don't mind me… I don't intend to stay."

"Where did we dump his things Petunia?" Uncle Vernon asked brutishly.

"Under the… under…" Petunia was still opening and closing her mouth like she'd seen a ghost but managed to point at the cupboard under the stairs.

"Ah. Should have known." Harry pushed past his uncle and jerked open the cupboard. Sure enough, there beside a new washing machine, was a smallish cardboard box. Harry pulled it out and opened it. Clothes now too small for him, a school workbook or two - that was all he'd really expected. Harry was under no illusions that picking up his stuff was for anything more tangible than his own peace of mind. "Looks like it." Harry closed the box and slid it into his leather backpack. It was a good backpack; he had bought it in Spain. Harry never understood why wizards lugged trunks around when they could charm smaller bags to carry just as much yet weigh almost nothing. Probably just a wizard thing, he reasoned. Same as quills.

"That everything?"

"Yes it is," said Petunia at the same time as her husband said,

"What about that box in the attic?"

"Box in the attic?" Harry watched his aunt's face fall. "Yes aunty dearest. What _about_ the box in the attic?"

"That's… but…"

"Just get it for him so he can leave Petunia," Vernon grumped. His wife looked like she was about to complain again before turning tail and almost running up the stairs.

Harry heard a noise behind him and glanced over his shoulder.

"Hi Dudley." Harry's cousin was almost as wide as the door he was standing in. "Yes that's right! I'm _back_."

"Harry… eh? What happened to you? You weren't like this when you left."

Harry wondered for a moment whether his aunt and uncle had told Dudley about magic, but then realised what he meant. Harry did look different, with his hair long enough to synch into a pony-tail and a guitar case slung over one shoulder, he looked nothing like the oppressed and timid boy that had been scared out of Privet Drive all those years ago.

"I grew up." Harry hitched his bag higher and grinned.

"Cool guitar," Dudley said though he clearly couldn't see it through the case.

"I remember you had one yourself before I left. What happened to it?"

"Smashed it through the TV." Dudley smiled at the memory of destruction. "It was too hard to play."

Aunt Petunia came back down the stairs a moment later and thrust an old shoebox into his hands.

"Right, you have everything." Vernon had apparently been waiting for this and pulled the door open. "Out! Now!"

"Well uncle…" And now for the real reason for the visit. "… there's just this minor bit of paperwork from my school." Harry pulled the Hogsmeade form from his pocket.

"If you could just sign this, it's nothing important, then I can be on my way." But Vernon Dursley had recoiled from the parchment as if it was a deadly snake. "Just one little signature…"

But his aunt took things out of his hands. She strode forward and grabbed the Hogsmeade form before tearing it in quarters and stuffing it back into his unresisting hand.

"Get. Out," Petunia said from between clenched teeth. "Freak!"

Harry stared at the pieces of parchment in his hands then up into his aunts eyes. He disdainfully opened his hand and let the scraps of paper fall onto the floor of number four.

He would not let them know they had got to him. He would not give them the satisfaction.

"Ah well." He brushed his hands against each other casually. "Never mind. Guess I'll be going then."

"Nice to see you again Dudley." Harry doffed an imaginary cap to his cousin and tucked the shoebox under his arm. "Petunia…" Harry nodded at his aunt and strode out the door. The last sound he heard before it closed was,

"Dad, I need a new guitar."

*

Harry found a bench a safe few streets away and opened the box to see what he had got. It was mostly full of papers and old photos, but a few other things jingled around in the bottom. Harry drew them out carefully: a wizard coin, a quill, an empty phial, a delicate silver locket lying open and a small silver badge with a P on it. Harry looked back over the papers, they were all written in neat, curled cursive. A woman's handwriting, or a girl's. These things were his mother's. Harry hurriedly pushed everything back into the box and shoved it back into his bag; he needed to look at this later when he had more time. He was about to get up and go when a small voice behind him said,

"Sir… You missed something."

Harry turned, a small child was pointing at something glinting on the floor. It was the locket. It must have slipped out while he was looking at the papers. Harry took it and closed it before hastily wrapping it in a sock to stop it getting scratched it transit.

"Thanks." Harry was about to turn and leave when he realised something. A hideous shock jolted right down his spine. The child had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

"What's your name?" Harry dreaded the answer.

"Harry Potter. Why do you-"

"And what year is it? Ah… I mean how old are you?" Harry amended quickly.

"Nearly four."

Harry glanced around quickly. Had he somehow travelled to the past or was this kid in his future? Damn it! It was impossible to tell, the roads around Privet Drive probably wouldn't change for anything short of a nuclear holocaust. The road was empty of any people; the only life he could see was a dog making a spirited attempt to dig its way under a fence.

Harry looked back down at the kid and tried to wrack his memory into shape. Did he remember having this conversation? Did he remember meeting an odd man with a guitar who looked like him? No, no he didn't remember. But that didn't mean it hadn't happened, he didn't remember a lot of stuff from when he was young.

"Kid…" What to tell him? Should he tell him anything? "Kid you're special. Don't let your aunt and uncle tell you different."

The boy blinked at him in surprise then faded. Faded away.

Harry collapsed back onto the bench and held his head in his hands. Without looking up he counted on his finger.

"Evil wizards, giant snakes and now time travel." Harry banged his head on the hard wood of the seat. "Wonderful."

Harry made it to King's Cross in plenty of time and crossed quickly onto platform nine and three quarters to be met by an unexpected sight. The doors of the Hogwarts express were closed and what students were already there were milling around uncertainly or talking in whispering groups. Harry spotted the twins right near the end of the platform and wandered over.

"Hi, girls."

"Hi Harry, had a nice summer?" Parvati chirped at him.

"Not too bad. Thanks for the reading material by the way."

"Well you did ask for it. Can't imagine why." Padma shook her head and turned back to her contemplation of the unmoving train.

The book they were talking about was a weighty volume they had got him for his birthday. Mrs Patil was a librarian at a massive library in Bath and the twins had made a habit of getting him books on subjects not even touched on by the Hogwarts curriculum. But when he had requested a book on the obscure art of Occlumency, even they had raised their identical eyebrows. It hadn't just been an idle fancy however - the subject had been suggested to him in a letter. A letter from a girl in Greece with one purple eye. Despite not wanting to disappoint Pythea he'd not made much progress, the book was heavy going. He persevered though.

"When a girl who can see the future tells you to learn something," Harry had reasoned. "It's probably in your best interests to put in the time." Of course according to her he already was an occlumens, he just had to learn to control it. Despite Harry's absolute respect for the little Greek seer, he looked on that statement with great disbelief.

"Do you know what the hold up is?" Harry gestured at the train. "Can we get on the train?"

"Yes Harry, we can get on the train." Padma rolled her eyes. "We're standing on this mucky, smokey platform purely in the interests of our own health."

"Can I nickname you sourpuss this year? I think it suits you."

"I don't know, don't you want to _not_ avoid experiencing a scalping hex?"

"No. Or yes… I mean no… Damn your double negatives!" Harry grinned and Padma smiled back at him. "Just tell me what's wrong with the train."

"We don't know," Parvati answered him and sat down on her trunk. Padma did the same.

"Ah…" thought Harry. "So trunks do have some advantages. Luckily…." Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a folding beach chair. He unfolded it and flopped down. "… I make my own advantages."

"All we know…" Parvati eyed Harrys chair but said nothing. "…is that they're going to make some announcement before we get on the train."

"Don't they usually make those at the feast?" Harry glanced around. The station was already filling up. Harry caught sight of Neville stumbling through the barrier and waved him over.

"Hi, Harry, Parvati. Hi Padma, do you know what's wrong with the train?"

"Why do you all assume _I_ know?" Padma snapped irritably.

"Well… because…" Neville floundered. "You're smart. You usually know things… about… stuff…"

"Oh… um," Padma bit her lip and looked slightly guilty. "Well I don't know this, sorry."

"Relax guys." Harry leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes. "Y'all worry too much. It's a nice day, we're outside, who cares about the train?"

"Smartest thing I've ever heard you say," Parvati mimicked Harry and they both sighed in contentment as the sun peeked out from behind a cloud and lit up the station. Padma snorted and got out a pack of cards before turning to Neville.

"While these two are photosynthesising you want to play exploding snap?"

Surprisingly Padma lost two games in the next few minutes before a loud murmuring made them all sit up and pay attention. Harry stood up on his chair and glanced around. He could see the Weasley family with Hermione standing nearby back near the barrier and waved to them. They waved back but he saw that they obviously couldn't reach him through the crush on the platform. He turned the other way and saw the cause of the murmuring, Professor McGonagall was standing on a raised dais at the end of the platform. He watched as she held her wand to her mouth then spoke in an unnaturally loud voice.

"Please listen to me all of you." The murmuring stopped and Harry stood up on the arms of his chair to get a better view. "When you reach Hogwarts there will be no carriages to take you to the school. Instead you will immediately line up behind your Heads of House; first years follow Professor Hagrid…" McGonagall pointed at the massive man standing next to her. Harry just had time to wonder about the 'Professor' bit before she continued. "From there you will be taken by boat to Hogwarts. I must stress to all of you that failure to abide by this will be met with stern punishment. Anyone acting in anything other than a mature and orderly fashion will be similarly punished."

Harry just stared at her, what was going on? A moment later he felt the chair under him shift and he dropped to the ground with an almighty crash. He stood up and dusted himself off. Everyone around was looking at him.

"A _mature_ and _orderly_ fashion." Harry heard Professor McGonagall repeat while glaring daggers at him. "Now if you will all enter the train." The doors clicked open and there was an instant scrum around the entrances as children tried to force their way in. The twins and Neville were chuckling a little.

"You always seem to find some way of being the centre of attention," Parvati said with a warm smile.

Harry laughed and folded up his chair.

"Come on, let's get on the train," Parvati added. "Before all the good seats are taken."

"Don't worry about that sis," Padma said dryly. "Harry seems to have a full garden set in his bag."

As the Hogwarts express neared the station the differences mounted. Instead of being let off the train as they wanted they were funnelled out in orderly lines to line up behind the teachers. The marauders huddled together. What was going on? After they had lined up in silence the other Heads of house peeled off and they followed McGonagall out of the station.

The students trudged along a muddy, misty path down to the lake. Harry glanced into the sky and saw broomsticks circling. Harry saw Professor Snape swing past, his long hooked nose making him look like a giant crow as he scanned the ground surrounding the students. A moment later Madam Hooch (flying with a good deal more expertise than the potions master) flew past in the other direction.

"Whatever it is that's happening," Harry thought. "Its got them _seriously_ worried."

The boat surprised everyone, a Victorian looking wooden paddle steamer complete with gas lights waited at a long dock at the side of the lake. The students filed on and the boat moved slowly away. As they moved out onto the water the teachers visibly relaxed. The students began to relax too, jumping at the rails and charging up and down the deck.

"Up there guys." Harry heaved his guitar into a luggage rack and pointed to the upper deck. "Come on."

"But Harry McGonagall's up there," Ron whined. "We won't be able to do anything fun."

"But we might hear what all this is about. Come on guys? Aren't you curious?"

"Not again Harry," Hermione crossed her arms. "Let the teachers handle it."

"I am going to," Harry said starting up the stairs. "But I want to know what it is they're handling."

"And whether it involves time travel," he added to himself as the marauders followed him up the stairs.

Up on the top deck it was colder and they could look far out over the lake as the mist curled on the surface of the water. Or was it just mist? Harry looked deeper and squinted through his glasses. The giant squid was right beneath the steamer, shadowing them. Teachers guarding above, the squid guarding below. Harry shook his head, something definitely had them spooked. A moment later a broom swooped down from above and a booted foot nearly cracked the side of Harry's head. Snape landed in an undignified heap on the deck and tried to get up before tangling his legs in the broom and almost tripping over. Harry heard a few stifled giggles but himself remained silent. What were they laughing about? Snape was better on the thing than him.

"Take it. Don't lose it," Snape snapped and shoved the broom into Ginny's hands before moving towards McGonagall. Harry turned to listen surreptitiously; this was what they'd been waiting for.

"One of them was sniffing around near the edge of the forest." Snape gestured away towards eastern shore of the lake. He sounded peculiarly disinterested. "It is gone now."

"Likely gone to tell the rest of them Severus." McGonagall was anything but disinterested. She sounded tense, even for her. "Why didn't you stun him?"

"They can hardly do anything _now_." Professor Snape glanced up at the sky with a wry smile on his face. "All these unnecessary precautions."

"You yourself helped strengthen the wards over the summer, Severus."

"That was a _necessary_ precaution." Snape was unruffled by Professor McGonagall's flinty stare. "For times other than now."

"You know they like to take people Severus. Wait and make sure they're in a position to strike when the time is right."

"Wait almost a week?"

"Severus, the safety of the students is our top priority."

"No Minerva." Severus's laconic attitude was gone in an instant. "Finding out what they are up to. Finding out why they move now. Finding out why they grow less fearful each day. Finding out why they are gathering and why they venture further and further outside the confines of the forest. That is our top priority. That is our top priority because until we do Hogwarts is not safe."

The two teachers dropped off into silence and stared out over the lake. Harry turned around and stared out over the rail himself. When was Hogwarts ever safe? People kept saying that Hogwarts was protected, but Harry had seen precious little evidence of that over his time there. Harry leant out over the rail and stared out over the misty water to the veiled forest, just visible as a dark stain in the distance. Since he'd been into it in his first year Harry hadn't really thought about the forest. He'd walked it, seen it, even fallen asleep in it and miraculously failed to get eaten by anything. Since that day it hadn't really scared him anymore. Harry frowned and closed his eyes. Now the forest was something malevolent, ruining what could have been a simple year.

"What are you thinking Harry?" Harry twisted and saw Neville standing behind him.

"I'm thinking we're in for another interesting year Neville," Harry sighed. "Lets just hope it doesn't involve more freezing sewers. That was half the reason I went to Spain you know…" Harry added. "…to warm up again."

"I know Harry." Neville moved up next to him on the rail. "I don't… I don't know how I managed it."

"I don't know how I managed it either. And I don't know how you managed it _twice_." Harry grinned at his friend. "That woulda killed me."

"It _did_ almost kill you."

"Nah, that was the snake." Harry was chuckling now. "Anyway you didn't just have to get out. You had to carry someone out."

"That actually made it easier." Neville was chuckling too. "She floats." Harry burst out laughing. He turned to his quiet friend.

"She floats?"

Neville nodded, still laughing.

"Ok." Harry shook his head and leant against the rail. "What are you thinking Neville? What do you think about all this?" Neville sort of drew back into himself and shrugged.

"You know I'm not really smart or anything Harry."

"Just give me a guess." Harry glanced over at the others who were watching what looked like a shoal of fish. "I want your initial reaction." Neville sort of shrugged again.

"Something in the forest's dangerous." Harry nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"It's something that's always been there but's acting differently now." Harry nodded and smiled. He'd got that impression too. In fact he'd got several impressions from the conversation, not that he was going to mention them.

"But something that isn't dangerous right now. That's what Snape said." Harry saw that Padma had wandered over too them. Neville shut his mouth suddenly, maybe less inclined to talk now that someone else could hear him if he was wrong.

"Either of you hazard a guess as to what?" Harry looked between them, from one to the other. "Something that's not dangerous now but is in a week's time?"

"There are… some dangerous plants with weekly cycles." Neville mumbled. "Some even grow in the forest. But he said something was _sniffing_ down by the shore."

"What if it's were-" Padma began but Harry caught her eye and subtly held one finger up, then glanced at Neville, who was still lost in thought. The twin looked confused for a moment then understanding seemed to flow onto her face and she quickly added. "No, it can't be that. Never mind."

"Does something special happen in a week's time?" Harry asked Neville. Neville looked confused then opened his trunk and pulled out what looked like a diary or a homework planner.

"In a week…" Neville's drew his finger down the page. "Well it's a full moon… Wait! Werewolves! Could it be werewolves?" Neville looked up with a shocked and surprised expression.

"Of course. And they already live in the forest. They must be gathering." Harry nodded and looked out over the water. "You should go tell the others, they'll want to know about this." Neville almost skipped as he moved away. Padma fixed him with a knowing stare.

"When did you work out it was werewolves?" she said quietly.

"About when you walked over. I remembered when I was in the forest with your sister, talking about all the nasties that were supposed to live there, and it just kind of clicked."

"You are either a very good friend or a manipulating bastard."

"I always thought I was both," Harry commented dryly.

Any response of Padma's was cut off as the ship lurched alarmingly to the side. Harry fell against the rail and slid down to the floor before he could catch himself. A sudden pain struck him in the back of his neck.

"Ow!" Harry picked himself up and rubbed the back of his neck. He had even heard something snap as he fell.

"Oh, fine don't be chivalrous. Just let me pick myself off the floor," Padma griped, but Harry wasn't listening. Something felt dreadfully wrong.

Suddenly he was fixed with a hideous certainty, his hands checking around his neck, his eyes checking the floor around his feet. It wasn't there. The shell, Pythea's shell pendent was gone. Harry dashed to the side and looked out over the water, as if he would be able to see it floating despite the mist and swells. Then his eye caught a shining glint and he breathed a huge sigh of relief. It had fallen on the lower deck, not in the water.

Feeling like he'd just run a marathon Harry went down the nearest staircase and swung round to the lower deck.

"Leave it! Don't step on it!" Harry yelled at the first years careening down the gangway. "Just let me… Oh bugger." Harry stopped moving and let his hands fall to his sides. A student had turned at his cries and picked the pendent off the floor and was now holding it up to the light.

"Interesting piece of jewellery Potter." Malfoy grinned evilly. "Didn't think you were one for decoration. Where did you get it? Never mind, I know. Shell, string, glue from the library, a gift made entirely of free ingredients. This was the Weasley's Christmas present to you wasn't it."

"Give. It. To. Me. Now." Harry didn't remember drawing his wand but it had somehow ended up in his hand. "Do not screw around here Malfoy."

"Oh but it's so sweet." The Slytherin drew the pendent off its cord to look at it more closely. "You carrying this piece of garbage close to your heart."

"Malfoy…" Harry took a step closer and held out his hand. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see his friends gathering behind him. "… believe me you don't want to see what'll happens to you if you don't give it to me."

"Well if you care so much…" Malfoy smirked and tightened his hand around the shell. "… oops!" And with that he turned and hurled the pendent out across the lake.

"Noooo!" Harry heard the scream fly past his lips and it felt like his heart flew with it. But a moment later a red blur shot past him at shoulder height, darting out over the dark surface of the lake, following the curving ark of the pendent as if climbed to its zenith then fell swiftly to the mist. The blur shot down with it and for a moment both were lost in the whiteness. Then a moment later it re-emerged, travelling slower now. Harry watched as Ginny Weasley floated back down onto the boat next to him on Snape's broom, held out her clenched fist and said…

"Here you go Harry." Her hand opened and there it was, not even wet. She'd caught it before it touched the water.

Harry reached out with trembling fingers and grabbed the tiny thing into his hand. Why had he ever kept it on something as fragile as leather? He should get some wire, or a chain. Yes, yes a chain. With unbreakable charms on it. He could ask Professor Flitwick for help making them really strong. Harry looked up then enveloped the youngest marauder in a hug.

"Thank you," he breathed into her hair.

"That's ok Harry. You saved me from a giant snake." Ginny chuckled.

"Believe me…" Harry pulled back from her and looked her straight in the eye. "…we're even."

"Miss Ginevra Weasley!" The marauders turned and saw McGonagall bearing down on them. Harry stepped in front of the others and held out his hands.

"Entirely my fault Professor, you see-"

"I do not want to hear it Mr Potter." Even Harry didn't have the guts to stand up to that tone of voice. "Miss Weasley, I was perfectly clear about the seriousness of the situation when I spoke on the train platform."

"But Professor I was-"

"Not another word Miss Weasley. And using a broom given to you to keep safe by a Hogwarts Professor." Ginny bowed her head. "Come with me now."

Ginny obediently moved off after the Deputy Headmistress. Harry tried one last attempt…

"The squid would'a caught her if she fell!"

McGonagall turned and gave him a withering stare before turning and walking up to the front of the ship, the youngest marauder trailing.

Ginny clutched the broom in her hands as her Head of House led her across the deck. To her surprise they stopped near a group of seventh years, one of whom McGonagall tapped on the shoulder.

"Mr Wood, I have found you a seeker."

Ginny's heart leapt. She wasn't expelled! Far from it, she was going on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Really?" The older boy looked almost torn, like it would be too painful to hope. "Is she good? Merlin's beard but we need a good seeker."

"She caught a piece of shell smaller that a snitch straight out of a standing start," McGonagall snapped. "In this mist too, and on a school broom."

"More than a piece of shell…" Ginny mumbled, defensive of Harry's treasured pendent. But neither the Professor nor the Quidditch captain seemed to hear her. Then she had a horrible thought. "But I don't have a broom," she protested.

"Considering the current situation in the Gryffindor team…" McGonagall shook her head ruefully. "I think we can provide you with a broom."

"A good broom," Wood cut in. "A Nimbus 2000, maybe a newer comet. Or you know the Nimbus 2001 is around-"

"We are not made of money Mr Wood," the Professor said icily.

"Right, right, of course. Better be the 2000."

McGonagall nodded and walked off humming what sounded like a victory march under her breath. Ginny turned back to the seventh year. Suddenly a memory hit her and her face turned from triumphant grin to horrified grimace.

"Something wrong little one?" Oliver Wood leant over to talk to her.

"I…" Ginny began then continued in a rush. "… I was sort of involved in the stuff last year and I was possessed by an evil book that had Voldemort in it and I set a giant snake on you and it petrified you and that's the reason you missed most of your last term and I could have killed you."

"But you can play Quidditch ?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about it then."


	17. Torrent of Ages: 2

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 2: Warnings

The sorting hat's song that year was the shortest in anyone's memory.

_"Last year a girl, A little girl  
Saw fit to break the rule._

I wish to make it fully clear.  
I will not be made a fool.

I sort the student, me the hat._  
And if you wish to question that.  
GO FIND ANOTHER SCHOOL!"_

Harry laughed out loud but stopped when he saw that Ginny appeared to be trying to hide under the table. The sorting occurred along normal lines from then on except for the fact that the hat sometimes seemed to be almost spitting its decisions out, as if daring anyone to question. Maybe it was Harry's imagination.

"Guys…" Harry began after the food had appeared. "… we've got to get back into the swing of things."

"What do you mean? What things?" Ron said through a mouth full of mashed potato.

"Pranks guys, the reason the marauders exist in the first place." Harry shook his head ruefully. "Last year we let little things like open warfare in the corridors distract us from what's really important."

"Harry please." Hermione put her hands together as if praying. "Haven't you had enough excitement. Can't we just have a quiet year, study, play chess, exploding snap that sort of thing. Besides, we all have new classes this year. We won't have time."

"Yeah, classes…" Harry tried to think back. What classes had he chosen? "… those classes I chose… called… um…"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes." Hermione's voice took on a long-suffering tone.

"Right! Right yes." Now he remembered. It had been a process of elimination really. Muggle Studies: too useless, Arithmancy: too hard, Divination: Taught by Professor Trelawney. Much as Harry wanted to learn more about the seers Pythea had warned him about the Divination Professor. "And a fun, studious time will be had by all but _between_ classes, we prank. We prank good. We prank hard. We prank deadly. But most of all…" Harry stopped and surveyed his troops.

"We prank _Malfoy._" Parvati finished for him, eyes ablaze. "We make him pay for almost losing you your pendent."

"Exactly."

Hermione buried her face in her hands.

"And for tormenting the muggleborn students." Ron added.

Hermione straightened instantly.

"Of course, we can't let him get away with it!"

"Children…" Albus Dumbledore had stood up and was addressing the school. The school turned and quietened attentively, except for Harry who was concentrating on rolling a coin over his knuckles. "… and you Harry." Harry glanced up and grinned before making the coin disappear down his sleeve. "I once again feel the need to make a few announcements before allowing you to return to your common rooms and regale each other with stories if your summers. Firstly I hope you will join me in welcoming a new Professor to the staff, he will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"…this year." A girl near the back of the Ravenclaw table yelled.

"And for as long in the future a he wishes to teach."

"Lets not kid ourselves here." Another voice added cynically. Harry craned his neck and saw Joshua Split grinning sardonically in his new blue edged robes. Somehow he had already managed to get them rumpled. He caught Harry's gaze and nodded amicably.

"In any case…" The Headmaster continued. "I would like to welcome Professor Lupin." The headmaster waved towards a wizard sitting on his left.

Professor Lupin was definitely a change from Markus Michelson. The wizards robes were patched like they had been repeatedly self-repaired and his hair showed grey. More than that he moved like a man not quite recovered from a long illness, his eyes were tired and lined. There was a smattering of applause, most of it soon stopping. Harry clapped once or twice to show willing but decided to reserve judgment till the first class. The man certainly didn't look like he would last a year, he looked like he'd be hard pressed to last a month.

Professor Lupin didn't seem perturbed by the unenthusiastic response, he seemed to take it as normal. Harry's eyes were drawn across the table and alighted on Professor Snape. The potions master's (usually so cheery) expression had twisted into something very close to pure hatred. Harry's eyes flickered to Lupin then back to Snape. There was a story here unless he was much mistaken. Suddenly the Potion Masters gaze flickered up to meet his. Harry felt a nub of pressure on the back of his scull, like a little balloon was being inflated inside his brain.

"Ok Harry! Clear mind!" Harry thought as he breathed deeply and tried to blank his mind. "Clear… clear… breathing…" The nub intensified and the pressure spiked into pain. "blank, walls, darkness, fog…" It was no good, the bulb of pain exploded and a flood of images filled Harry's mind before he jerked his eyes away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Professor smirk triumphantly.

"Secondly…" The Headmaster continued. "I would like to announce that our very own Rubeus Hagrid has agreed to take on a post as the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures." The cheer this time was louder, but still not great. Harry stood and clapped but not many others did.

"Thirdly, and most importantly…" Dumbledore's voice took on a deathly serious tone. "… as your unusual means of arrival will no doubt have alerted you there are problems at Hogwarts this year. I truly hope that they will not trouble us but there are some things you must know. The forbidden forest has always been off limits to students, but I must now move the boundary a good deal closer to Hogwarts. There is a line that you will all see on the ground just passed the greenhouses, do not cross it unless you have an undeniable need to visit Madam Pomfrey. And even then there are much less painful ways. I must also insist that all students are inside the castle walls during the hours of darkness. The Quidditch stadium has been closed for matches…"

"No!" The cry went up from several places around the great hall.

"… but the Quidditch cup will still take place in a different venue." Dumbledore continued to a somewhat placated hall. "I truly hope that none of these precautions are necessary and that we can all have a normal year." The Headmaster sat back down.

"Fat chance of that." Harry said swinging around.

"Shh!" Hermione admonished him.

"… and you Harry." Harry spun back round. Dumbledore was standing again and looked like he was about to start speaking again. Harry obediently fell silent.

"I once again feel the need to make a few announcements before allowing you to return to your common rooms and regale each other with stories if your summers." What? More announcements?

"Firstly I hope you will join me in welcoming a new Professor to the staff, he will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts." We already did?

"…this year." Hang on…

"And for as long in the future a he wishes to teach." Oh no… Harry glanced over at Split just a moment before he spoke.

"Lets not kid ourselves here."

Harry glanced around, no one else seemed to think anything was amiss. He made himself clap for both professors and appear to listen attentively to the restrictions he'd heard just a moment before. As the rest of the school began leaving the great hall Harry grabbed a jug of water and took a long thirsty gulp. It did no good, his throat still felt dry.

"You alright Harry?" Ron had hung back, waiting for him.

"Oh fine." Harry set the jug back and wearily got to his feet. "Just déjà vu."

As he turned and walked unhurriedly out of the hall a set of golden eyes watched him go.

"A Nimbus 2000." Ron ran his hands lovingly over the handle of the broomstick. "Wow… I mean… wow…"

"Um Ron? Brother dear? Give me my broom back right now!"

"Right." Ron handed the broom back over the breakfast table. "Sorry Ginny." But he kept staring at the broom and his hands kept twitching as if itching to grab it again.

Harry caught the eye of Hermione, the only other marauder not currently clustered around the broom, and rolled his eyes. Hermione smiled but said…

"Some of it's actually quite interesting actually Harry. I've read up on flying charms and the Nimbus 2000 is the first to use the new momentum reversal charm for pinpoint turns in…"

"… in conjunction with an _aeris-fissio_ to increase to speed? Yeah, but the _Atirabhasa_ charm produces pretty much the same speeds and it's a damn sight more reliable. Or you could use _Frenum_ instead of the momentum charm so long as the wood itself is strong enough."

Hermione's jaw had dropped open and she was looking at him with disbelief.

"They're charms." Harry explained, waving dismissively. "They're _easy_. And as for the Quidditch talk well… after hearing Ron prattle on for so long I can probably recite the rule book."

"Harry if you would just apply the same level of commitment you give to charms and pranking to other things like say… potions or defense class I'm sure you'd find them just as easy."

Harry wasn't so sure, especially about the potions.

"But potions is boring." Harry took a swig of orange juice (he had never grown to like pumpkin juice). "How can you spend time doing something so boring."

"Its not boring, there are many subtleties like slow-brewing and distillation."

"Step one: Read Instruction. Step Two: Follow Instructions. Step Three: Have Cauldron Explode and get yelled at." Harry mimed an exploding cauldron and laughed. Hermione at least smiled as she took a drink from her glass. "Only step three is of any real interest. That's why I add so many odd ingredients." Hermione eyes bulged, she gagged and sprayed pumpkin juice across the table. Spluttering and gasping she managed to say…

"You've been doing it _on purpose!_"

"Hell yes! It's not really any fun otherwise." Harry thought back for a moment, lost in reminiscence. "The one that turned purple and ended up all over the ceiling. That was probably the best one."

"Let's just get to class." Hermione stood up and grabbed her bag. "I don't want to be late for muggle studies."

"What are you talking about? We have creatures first don't we?"

"Oh, right yes." Hermione bit her lip before nodding. "Let me just go, um, get some spare parchment. I'll meet you there." She moved off down the table quickly. Harry watched her go, frowning.

"That was odd." Harry took another sip of juice then turned around at the sound of a loud bang. Ron was helplessly flailing at his face, trying to knock away the two leathery wings that had emerged from his nose. One from each nostril. "Tried to grab the broom again didn't you Ron?"

"I couldn't help myself."

Hermione hurried away from the great hall, very aware of the little golden hourglass hanging around her neck. She had felt Harry's stare as she walked out of the hall, she would have to be more careful in future. He was too shrewd sometimes. The consequences if someone found out would be awful. McGonagall had made that clear…

"You will have to sign this." McGonagall had said, pushing a long form over to her. "Make sure to read it carefully."

She had dutifully read through the document. It seemed to be a standard from, there had been various references to the punishments for different infractions.

"There's a bit that's been written in in different ink at the bottom." Hermione had noticed.

"We thought it necessary to add that."

"_'I swear that I will never ever ever ever tell Harry Potter about the time-turner.'_ You mention Harry by name?"

"We thought it prudent."

"It's underlined."

"I know."

"In red."

"I know."

"And there's a big arrow pointing to it."

"Just sign the form."

Hermione had done so and been handed a small hinged box, like a piece of jewellery would come in. On the back had been a tiny label

_Time-Turner  
Property of the department of Mysteries  
Warnings:  
Keep with you at all times  
Do not attempt to open  
Do not use in conjunction with other methods of time-travel  
Do not cause paradoxes or interfere with the fabric of causality  
Do not swallow_

Hermione hurried to her lesson. She just needed to be more careful. This year couldn't be that hard, could it?

"Where are you going Harry?" Parvati called out to him as he stepped out of the main door of Hogwarts.

"Well I was thinking of going to my magical creatures class." Harry shrugged and grinned impishly. "But if you wanna ditch I'm game."

"The magical creatures classes are being held inside this year. Probably because of all the security. Didn't you read the notice? I'm really looking forward to it…" Parvati continued as Harry turned to follow her. "… I wonder if we'll do unicorns or maybe an Abraxan."

"Acromantula and yetis and bicorns oh my!"

"Oh come on Hagrid wouldn't be allowed to bring those things into the school."

"Really?" Harry chuckled. "Bet you a galleon whatever we see today has more teeth than me."

"You're on." Parvati had stopped in front of a door on the third floor. All the marauders had, the place held some disturbing memories. Hermione hurried towards them (not from the direction of Gryffindor tower Harry noticed) and stopped nearby.

"Is that…?"

"Fluffy's room." Neville finished for her in a voice full of dread.

"Ooo." Harry said as he moved to open the door. "I think I hear that galleon calling."

"Great, y'r all here." Hagrid waved the marauders over. The room looked different to when the Cerberus had occupied it. It had been cleaned for one thing and the trapdoor was gone, replaced by flat stone just slightly less worn than the rest of the floor. If you weren't looking you'd never see it.

The students were sat on cushions in a circle around Hagrid, who himself was standing next to a massive cage covered in a black cloth.

"Sorry we have to have the lessons in here but its for your own good y' see. Now, have a look at this…" Hagrid pulled the cloth off and the whole class shied away. "…A six-headed Vorompatra. Ain't she a beautiful creature."

The ten foot tall ostrich-like creature stuck its heads through the bars and glared at the students with all twelve of its red, beady eyes. Then it drew back its heads and screeched like a banshee.

"Her name is Isabelle." Hagrid said fondly.

Not one of the students spoke until Parvati leaned towards Harry's ear and hoarsely said…

"You owe me a galleon."

The shaken marauders made their way to defence against the dark arts.

"It's eyes… It kept staring at me." Neville kept mumbling as they walked down the corridor.

"It was staring at everyone Neville it had _six bloody heads!_" Harry threw his hands up in the air and shook his head.

"He probably just wanted to start the year with a bang." Hermione rationalized, kneading the edge of her robes in her fists nervously. "The rest of the classes won't be like that. Surely?" She even seemed to be rocking back and forth a little. Ron tentatively reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"We can only hope. Though perhaps we shouldn't." Padma said dryly.

Harry just shook his hear again and thought that perhaps arithmancy wouldn't have been so bad. As they entered the defense classroom Professor Lupin looked up from what he was doing. The marauders were the first ones there.

"You needn't find your seats students, we will be going somewhere else for the lesson today." The teachers voice was horse and tired. The marauders waited for anything further instructions but none came, the professor had gone back to writing something on a sheet of parchment.

Harry shrugged and made three juggling balls appear from thin air (the first time he'd done this half of Gryffindor house thought he'd mastered conjuring, it had been weeks before anyone had caught on to the sleight of hand) and began spinning them idly. When the rest of the class were there Professor Lupin called the register then rose wearily from his seat and told them all to follow him. As they trouped through the school Harry whispered…

"Where do you think he's taking us?" But the answer became apparent almost instantly as they entered the staff room.

"Now, I do not want any of you to become alarmed. But there is a dark creature in this wardrobe, a boggart." Most of the class ignored his warning and became alarmed. "Mr, Longbottom is it? Mr Longbottom would you come to the front please."

Neville gingery moved to the front of the class. Harry listened with half an ear to the description of the properties and proper defense against boggarts. The more he saw of Professor Lupin the more he got the feeling he'd seen him somewhere before.

"Alright Mr Longbottom?" Damn! Should really have listened to that. "Ready? Go!" Professor Lupin flicked his wand and the cupboard opened. Out stepped Isabelle in all her glory.

"Oh bloody hell! Not again!" Harry yelled.

Neville seemed to have been petrified, his wand rigid in his hand as the gigantic bird stomped towards him making the ground shake. Then he seemed to snap out of it and yelled…

"Riddikulus!" The elephant-birds six heads suddenly snaked together into a tangled knot and it fell to the floor.

"Good, good! Next one up." Professor Lupin was smiling and motioned Susan Bones up. The boggart became a snake and was quickly changed into a slinky.

"Ok, I get the idea." Harry thought as he slowly moved up the line. Rats, bats, toads and spiders were changed into more amusing things and Harry thought it might actually be fun to see what happened when he came face to face with the creature. The last student in front of him moved away and he stepped up, wand in hand. The boggart seemed to ripple for a moment, then shot forward. For a moment Harry saw a blue flash then he felt water all around him and his mind became a blank slate full of terror.

"Can't breath! Air! Air! Can't breath! Can't…" Harry flailed helplessly. "Drowning!" Harry's thoughts were interrupted as the water disappeared. Harry caught a flash of something globe-shaped and silver before he dropped to his knees on the floor.

"Are you hurt?" Harry looked up at the sound of the Professors voice then shook his head. "Perhaps this will teach you to pay more attention when your teacher speaks in future." With that Lupin turned away and started talking to the rest of the class, lecturing them on other boggart properties. Harry felt an arm snake around his shoulders and looked up to see Hermione's sympathetic face.

"Why didn't you speak the charm Harry?"

"Couldn't breath."

"The water wasn't real you know." But Harry just shook his head.

"Couldn't breath."

The class was dismissed a few minutes later. Harry slouched along a few steps behind the rest of the marauders with his hands in his pockets. Malfoy would surely have spread this story across half the school before the end of the day and the other half by breakfast. Harry decided he hated Professor Lupin.

The next day Harry was bodily dragged from lunch by Hermione.

"Come on, or we'll be late."

"And would that be so bad." Harry tried to dig his heels in to slow her down but he just ended up stumbling (why did he have to be smaller than everyone?) "Are you that excited about ancient runes?"

Harry was the only marauder joining Hermione in that subject. In addition to the care of magical creatures they were all taking, and now regretting. Ron and Parvati had signed up for divination, against Harry advice. Neville was taking muggle studies along with Padma who was the only marauder doing three electives ("Why!" Harry had asked. "And _arithmancy?_"). Apart from Hermione of course, who was doing _everything._

"I am excited!" Hermione entered the classroom and took a seat right at the front.

"Not the seat I would have chosen but whatever." Harry thought as he sat down. "At least nothing in this class can eat me or drown me."

"Good morning class. I am Professor Babbling." The professor looked a little like an older Hermione, but a more dotty one. She had noticeable ink stains on her cuffs and even a smudge on her cheek. She was obviously good at her subject though if the detailed calligraphy that hung in scrolls behind her desk was any indication. "Well shall we get started."

Harry rested his head in his hand as the Professor begun explaining some obscure runic script in quick flowing speech while scraping symbols on the board. After about half an hour she asked them to translate a bit of it. Harry turned to Hermione.

"I assume you noted all of that down?"

"Well of course!"

"Good." Harry held up a sketch of a dog with fluffy ears. "Because I didn't."


	18. Torrent of Ages: 3

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 3: The Chimera

Despite the extra precautions around the school classes continued more or less as normal. Hermione's hopes had been correct and Hagrid had just been trying to start the year big. Creatures class was, from then on, not quite so terrifying. Harry had reduced his own fears by talking to professor Flitwick who had assured him that all the cages Hagrid had were built with the strongest unbreakable charms. Flitwick himself had inspected each one of them. Harry felt better after that and tried to convince the other students of the same thing.

"Unbreakable charms won't break." Harry said to Susan Bones as they wrestled a writhing vine into a pot and packed it down with clay. "He could bring anything into class and, so long as its in a cage, it should be fine."

"I know that. I mean, I know that's true but its not the same when the creature's actually in front of you." Susan shook her head, she had a spot of earth on her cheek. Harry reached out and brushed it off for her, ignoring the odd fluttering feeling in his stomach.

"Well…" Harry swallowed and continued. "… at least its not snakes!" Harry jumped at her hissing and holding up a piece of vine, making it wriggle like a snake. Susan snorted and shoved him backwards into a flowerbed.

Harry left herbology with mud all down his back.

"Not one word." He warned the snickering marauders. "We've got a job to do tonight remember?"

The marauders quieted down. It was true, tonight Draco Malfoy would pay.

Harry slid along the wall up to the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Myrtle (intentionally dimming herself) wafted through the wall. A moment later her top half slid back into sight and she gave him a wink and a thumbs up. Harry made one last check around for the lookouts he knew were at each end of the corridor then said the password. Grinning he slipped into the common room and up the stairs. How had they ever managed without a ghost?

It took Harry a good five minutes to open Malfoy's door. Obviously after last year the third year had seen fit to add some extra protections to his apartments. Harry glanced over the boys bed. Malfoy'd got rid of the teddy bear at some point but seemed to miss it, he had his blankets bunched up in front of him and was hugging them. Harry shook his head and made his way to the dresser. Harry opened the top drawer ever so slowly and sprinkled a liberal amount of a dark powder inside. He then did the same with the other drawers and with the clothes hanging in the wardrobe. Chuckling to himself silently Harry slid out of the room and closed the door.

The next morning Harry watched for Malfoy carefully during breakfast but he never showed. Most likely in the hospital wing Harry reasoned, the lesions had probably burst by now.

"Step 1, success." Harry leaned back and shared a broad smile with the other marauders. "On to step two. But that will have to wait for the weekend."

"But it's a Hogsmead weekend?" Ron pointed out.

"Yep, step two takes place in Hogsmead. Let me tell you about it…" Harry began but was interrupted by Hermione.

"But Harry you can't go to Hogsmead. You don't have a permission form, its not allowed. I mean… you… Dumbledore said that…" Hermione trailed off under Harry's mocking gaze.

"I have left _the country_ against Dumbledore's wishes. I shouldn't think the school grounds will provide too much hassle. Now…" Harry leant forward conspiratorially. "This is what I think we should do, cut in if you've got some suggestions."

The Saturday sun rose bright and early as did the students eager to be off to Hogsmead. Harry waved his friends off at the front gate in a mood of mild panic. He had made a promise to meet them early outside the three broomsticks but, despite his cockiness, he actually didn't have the faintest clue how he was going to leave the grounds.

Ginny had wanted to come with him but he had refused saying at the time that it would be too obvious she wasn't supposed to be there. Now he was regretting it as she might have been able to fly him over the wall. Harry walked up to the gate but saw Filch checking students as they wandered out, there was no way he could get out that way.

Harry walked along the wall in the direction of Hogsmead looking for some crack or flaw. He could probably have climbed the wall in places but for the fact that he knew they were not mere stone. He reached the lakeshore without finding anything and was about to turn back when an idea struck him. The lake. Harry scrambled down to the edge of the water and looked out to his right, cliffs for a good thirty meters but a scrap of beach after that. He could even see the road the carriages went along.

Remembering the boggart Harry eyed the water with deep suspicion. But it looked like it was his only option. He would probably be alright so long as his head was above water.

"The things I do to get Malfoy." Harry shook his head as he took off his shoes and tied the laces together so he could loop them around his neck. He reluctantly stepped into the water and winced at the cold, he went deeper and began to follow the cliff around. Eventually the lakebed sank and he could no longer touch it with his feet. Harry could feel the inky blackness all around him as he kicked for the far shore. The water sapped his courage and Harry's heart raced until he was able to put his feet back on land.

Harry drew himself up onto the beach and wasted no time in performing a quick drying charm on his clothes before heading up into the village.

In Harry's opinion the marauders were not impressed enough that he had managed to leave the castle.

"Where were you?" Padma hissed. "You're late, we've been waiting."

Harry just rolled his eyes and said…

"Is he here yet?"

"No."

"Then I'm not late." Harry started off down the road and the marauders didn't really have a choice but to follow him. They all trouped into madam puddifoots to the surprise of the proprietor, she rarely saw groups of more than two in her shop. The third years moved towards a pair of hufflepuffs sitting at the table nearest the window.

"Hi!" Harry greeted brightly. They looked up. "I know you don't want to be disturbed but we are playing a _massive_ prank on a hideous git known as Draco Malfoy. Oh you know him too? Well the only way we'll be able to watch the results of our masterful deception is if we can have this table. So, do you mind?" The couple looked at each other for a moment.

"Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"Mind if we watch too?"

Harry smiled

"Course not. In fact…" Harry turned and addressed the whole shop (after a quick eye scan to see that there were no Slytherins present). "… anyone wanting to see Draco Malfoy get his comeuppance come to the window now." Harry heard chairs squeak back and the other four couples in the café all crowded around the window.

"There he is!" One of them pointed. Draco Malfoy was scurrying down the street, occasionally scratching at his chest and arms. Harry twirled his wand around and held it under his chin like a microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" He began. "… I would like to welcome you to the first ever episode of _The New Marauders TV Show!_ With our special guest… Malfoy!" Several of the patrons were shooting him odd looks but others were grinning.

"Earlier this week _somebody_ impregnated Mr Malfoy's clothing with brech powder which, as you know, causes serious problems to any bare skin it touches." A snickering began all around Harry. "And yes, the powder got on his underwear too." Malfoy was almost level with them in the street now.

"Now Malfoy knows by now that pretty much all his clothing is infested so as soon as he reaches Hogsmead he's going to need to visit…" Draco ducked into the shop opposite. "… gladrags wizardwear. What Mr Malfoy is unaware of is that we have an agent inside gladrags wizardwear, hidden using the magic of his kind. I think we should all take a moment to thank Dobby the house elf for his work in this endeavor." Harry and the marauders clapped and a few of the others did too, getting into the game of it.

"It probably won't take Malfoy long to get his stuff since it is just school robes for the most part. But you see the _other_ thing of which Mr Malfoy is unaware is that Mr Dobby has made sure he gets the clothes we pre-prepared. These clothes have a jinx on them, a jinx commonly known as the emperors-new-clothes jinx." A couple of the students broke out laughing. "Ah, so you've heard of it, or can at least guess what this little spell does. For those that can't… Ah! Here's Mr Malfoy now." Some of the café crowd laughed, some looked away and some just grinned in glee as Malfoy walked off down the street in his _'robes'_ oblivious to the stares he was getting from everyone.

"Of course we left him his boxers." Harry continued. "There are some things I just don't want to see."

"Even though I am truly terrified right now." Harry thought as he swam back past the cliffs. "That was so worth it. Malfoy won't live this down for _years._"

Harry was right, the whole school knew how Malfoy had walked through Hogsmead and into the three broomsticks half-naked. The whole school had a fair guess as to who was responsible too. Over the next few weeks the marauders were treated to another chapter of _'The many knowing and calculating stares of Minerva McGonagall'_ but no one could prove it.

"We need to do more stuff like that." Harry said to himself as they waited for the defense class to begin. "I wonder where Snape buys his robes?"

The others just grinned. A moment later Hermione hurried in through the doors looking flustered before landing down in her seat.

"Where did you go Hermione?" Ron questioned. "We all left divination at the same time."

"What do you mean?" Padma turned around. "We were just in arithmancy."

"We were all just in transfiguration." Harry argued, confused. "We must have all been there, it's not an optional class."

"Harry are you crazy?" Ron asked, stunned.

Any retort Harry had been about to deliver was lost as the door to the classroom banged open and Severus Snape strode in. Arrogantly making his way to the front of the class he stood behind the desk.

"Professor Lupin." Snape said smugly. "Is unavailable to teach today due to _ill health._" The teacher smirked. "So I will be taking today's lesson. Turn to… ah! Werewolves! Chapter 32."

"But Professor!" Hermione began but Harry shushed her to silence. He wanted to know where Snape was going with this. Did the potions master want them to guess what was threatening the school? The students began scribbling away, making notes on the chapter when Harry felt a shadow fall across him.

"Mr Potter, taking notes? I might almost think I was imagining things." Harry looked up, directly into Snape's eyes. This time he didn't even have time to attempt to clear his mind and the pressure broke through instantly. Harry tore his gaze back down to the paper in front of him. Harry heard a triumphant snort from above him but ignored it.

"Learning all I can about werewolves sir." Harry said flippantly. "Especially since they live so close."

"Closer than you know Potter." What was that about? But Snape continued on a different tack. "Did you enjoy the Hogsmead weekend Potter?"

"Professor you know I don't have a permission form. I could never go to Hogsmead." Harry tried to look innocent, unsuccessfully. "It would be wrong."

"Really, I have been hearing from members of my house who saw you in Hogsmead that weekend."

"Well Professor I hate to tell you this but I heard a member of your house walked into the three broomsticks in his under shorts so I don't know how far you want to trust their judgment."

"Oh and I suppose you simply heard about that from second hand accounts?" Snape sneered.

"Oh Professor you know if I'd been there I would have taken the opportunity to throw mud at him. No mud ergo I was not there."

"Do not be flippant with me Mr Potter. Thirty points from Gryffindor. I know your type so well Potter. You are just like your father."

"Whatever." Harry grumbled as the teacher moved off.

Professor Lupin was back in charge of the class after the weekend and, much as the man was inexplicably cold towards him, Harry welcomed the return. Anyone was better than Snape.

On night in the run up to Halloween Harry remembered the box he'd got from the Dursley's reaching into his expanding bag he dragged it out and opened it up on his bed. With the contents strewn out it seemed a lot less. Harry quickly separated the papers into junk (bills, old homework assignments, soppy love letters) and interesting stuff like photos.

One of the photos caught his eye and he drew it out, six figures stood on the grass outside Hogwarts. Older students, sixth or seventh years. Harry's eyes found two students on the left of the picture locked in an embrace. One with eyes like his and the other with everything else, his parents.

But Harry had noticed something else, nearby them was another student, the only one in the picture who seemed to be sitting still for it to be taken. He knew that face, he'd been lectured by it earlier that day. That must have been where he recognized professor Lupin from, he must have caught a glimpse of him in the picture. Sure enough on the back of the picture were scratched some names in pencil, Remus Lupin appeared near the bottom of the list.

Harry frowned, if his parents and Lupin had known each other why was the Professor being so cold to him? Harry pushed the box's contents back into it and slid off the bed. He would have the answer to this puzzle. Moving through the deserted common room Harry pushed open the portrait door.

"Is it even worth telling you its past curfew?" Said the fat lady but Harry just smiled at her and shut the door. Moving silently he made his way to the defense teachers office. Luckily there was still a light peeking out from under the door. Harry went to the door and knocked.

"One moment." Professor Lupin opened the door in a faded dressing gown. "Oh its you. Shouldn't you be in your common room."

"I came to ask you something." Harry drew out the photo. "About this."

Lupin seemed to draw into himself, then deflate and sigh.

"Ah." Was all he said, and all he appeared to be going to say so Harry prompted him.

"You knew my parents."

"Yes I did. I was in the same year as them."

"And the same house." Harry pointed to the robes of the people in the picture. "And you and my mother were prefects together."

"Yes you have sufficiently proven that you are observant." The student and teacher still hadn't moved from the doorway. Lupin had not invited him in. "Where did you get this?"

"In a box of my mothers old stuff. Nothing much, letters, photos, a locket."

"Lilly didn't wear a locket." For the first time Lupin seemed vaguely interested. "She wore a pendent." Harry frowned and drew the silver thing out of the box. "Yes that's it. It's a pendent."

"But it was open…" Harry looked closer at the little thing. It was true that now it was closed the seam around the edge was almost invisible and the thing was thin enough to pass for a solid pendent. Harry tried to get a fingernail in the crack but the thing seemed to be solid.

Was it a locket or had he imagined it? No, it was a locket because it had been open when he first got the box. He'd closed it so it wouldn't get damaged. Harry put it back in the box and mentally filed it under _mysterious_.

"Seems like you know a lot about her for someone who was just in their year. Seems like you must have known them. You and the other people in this picture."

"Everyone but me in that picture is dead." The usually mild mannered Professor snapped, but Harry was in no mood to take this anymore.

"Really," Harry flipped the picture. "Rose McKinnon? Sirius Black? Peter Petigrew?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The teacher roared and Harry took a step backwards. "Rose was tortured and killed along with her entire family during the war! And the other two, well? Sirius Black betrayed us all to Voldemort and got Lilly and James killed. Poor Peter managed to track him down the next day and made him pay at the cost of his own life. We found both their bodies in the wreckage left behind by the duel. In the course of two days I lost _everything_. Can you understand that? Can you even comprehend?" Harry bowed his head.

"No, I guess I can't." He moved to leave then turned back and said. "Do you want the picture?" But the Professor had already closed the door.

"Ginny eat something. Anything." Parvati leant over the table with a plate of fruit and held it out for her. Ginny just shook her head and tried to breath evenly. Stroking the handle of her broomstick calmed her a little, but not enough to make eating anything an option.

To be fair it was a wonderful day for Quidditch, not a cloud in the sky and a pleasant breeze. Ginny just wished she were playing on the pitch behind the burrow not in front of the entire school.

"Time to go sis." She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Fred hovering over her. "Don't worry, you'll feel a lot better once you get up there."

"Yeah," His twin chimed in "Our first match we felt just the same, everyone does." They led her away from the table. Just as she was leaving she saw Harry shudder suddenly and look around like he had just woken up before sighing and burying his face in his hands.

"What was that?" She thought as she left the Great Hall in a stream of people.

"Do we even know where we're playing yet?" She said to break the silence.

"We took a look-see earlier." George's face broke into a broad grin. "It's bloody brilliant."

"Where is it then? Tell me you gits!" Ginny kicked her brother in the shin lightly making him stumble.

"Oy! We need our beaters in top condition!" Wood was stalking over. His face showing no sign of humour. "No playing about. This is the most important match of the year! Slytherin are the team to beat. They won the cup last year and the year before _and_ they all have new brooms courtesy of Draco Malfoy."

"I was just…"

"Well don't! Lets just get to the pitch." Wood stalked off.

"Don't listen to him Gin." Fred wrapped his arm round her shoulder.

"He's just stressed out. We tried to lighten him up earlier but he hexed us both good."

Ginny giggled. She knew what her brothers 'lightening up' had probably involved.

Just then the new Quidditch venue came into view and Ginny gasped. A massive stand had been erected at the edge of the lake, hanging onto the cliffs and built up on the beaches. The goals stuck straight up from the rippled water.

"Awesome isn't it." George breathed and he and his brother set off towards them. Ginny was about to follow them when she felt a hand encircle her arm. Looking back she saw Harry's familiar face. He looked tired and sort of deadened. The last time she had seen him like this was back when the blood war was at its height, when there seemed to be no answer to it. Back when he had almost given up. It wasn't quite that bad yet, but it was similar.

"About an hour and a half into the game." Harry said quickly. "You should probably check around the base of the Gryffindor goal."

"How do you know?"

"Déjà fucking vu." Harry said in a low growl before walking off towards the stands. Ginny shook her head worriedly, Harry swore a bit more than the rest of them but he usually saved it for serious situations. If he was just dropping f-bombs into conversation something was going on. But whatever it was it was going to have to wait. Her first proper Quidditch match ever was about to start.

"Go! Go! GO!" Ron screamed and the crowd screamed with him as the two seekers dove for the snitch..

"He's blocking her." Parvati yelled and pointed.

Suddenly the snitch spun and snapped back directly towards the seekers. For a moment the crowd held its breath as the two players came together in a swirl of robes. Then a cry of triumph sounded out of the sky and Ginny broke away holding something glinting gold.

"She did it!" Ron leapt from his chair, he had never been prouder of his little sister. He turned to Harry who was laughing more than cheering, head thrown back and eyes sparkling.

"Of course she did. Marauders don't lose." Harry snapped a grin then his face went grey and he pointed back into the sky where Ginny was still hovering, showing off the snitch. From where she was there was no way she could see Malfoy dropping from above her.

She had won! She had really done it! It had been touch and go for a moment there but she had grabbed it right out of Malfoy's hands. She hadn't even needed to use Harry's tip to get it since she'd spotted it barely an hour into the match.

She saw a shadow cross over her and looked up just in time to see a boot smack into her face. She heard a massive crack and suddenly she was falling, a mess of broom and robe. Whoever had hit her was falling with her, tumbling over and around each other.

A moment later she hit the water and a moment after that the lake bed, the water hadn't been nearly deep enough to slow her fall. She kicked up as best she could in robes and boots but she was waterlogged and barely moving. After what seemed like an eternity she just managed to break the surface before being dragged back under. She felt for her robe clasps and snapped them off before starting to kick back onto the surface. But she was too worn out and hurting from the collision, the sunlight on the surface tantalizingly close.

She felt the swells from someone in the water with her and a moment later felt herself lifted up by a giant hand on her back. She broke the surface and gasped one desperate breath after another.

"Y'r alright now. Y'r alright." She heard Hagrid's voice and looked down into ruddy face. He was just tall enough to still be able to stand on the bottom but even for him the water came up to his chin. "Gave us all a bit of a scare."

"Who hit me?" Ginny's head was still swimming from the lack of oxygen.

"Malfoy." The groundskeepers voice had gone low and dangerous. "Snape picked him out'o the water with a spell but no-one could see where you 'ad gotten yourself to."

"I didn't get _myself_ anywhere." Ginny croaked. Now that the water was shallower Hagrid sat her on his shoulder then finally set her down on the pebbled beach. She could see her team-mates rushing towards her across the shingle. Behind them by the stands she saw the marauders hurrying towards her. Professor Snape seemed to be trying to block them and was shouting something, Harry simply ignored him and ducked underneath his arms. A moment later they had all crowded around her and she was forced to repeat the words 'I'm fine' over and over to stop them fussing over her.

"Deplorable! Disgusting behaviour!" Somewhere else on the beach she could hear Professor McGonagall yelling in another part of the beach. Ginny stuck a finger into her ear and wiggled it around. It was full of water and everything sounded distorted. "I have never seen the like."

"Minerva it was clearly an accident." Snape had sidled over. "If it had been intentional do you think he would have let his own broom become damaged like that." He pointed away to the side at where Malfoy's broom lay, cleanly split in the middle with the bristles knocked far out of whack. Ginny suddenly had a sinking feeling.

"Professor?" McGonagall turned towards her. "Has someone found my broom?" McGonagall raised her eyebrows, perhaps she hadn't realised it was missing. The teacher turned towards the lake, raised her wand and said…

"_Accio Ginerva's broom._" For a moment nothing happened then something flew out of the water, something much too small. A moment later another joined it. No one spoke as a pile of shards and splinters grew near Professor McGonagall's feet. Even the bristles came out, ending up in a sodden heap.

Ginny heard her head of house turn on Malfoy again and start yelling but it felt like background noise. Kneeling down she picked up a few splinters of wood and let them fall through the cracks in her fingers. Growing up with six brothers gave you all sorts of training in how to hold in tears but nothing was working. She felt herself start sobbing and covered her face with her hands so no one would see. It wasn't working. Giving up she stood and ran away through the crowds on the beach. She couldn't look at anyone right now.

The last thing she saw before she left was professor Snape levitating the shards of both her and Malfoys brooms into a garbage can, a look of glee on his face.

Harry watched her go. He wanted to go after her but didn't have the faintest idea what he'd say when he caught up.

"Someone please…" Harry gestured after Ginny, a plea clear in his voice.

"We got it." Padma nodded and her, her sister and Hermione began following the fleeing redhead. Harry felt himself bunching his fists and saw that the people next to him were doing the same.

"No one does that to a Weasley." Fred muttered.

"No one does that to a marauder." Harry shook his head and punched his fist into his palm. "Not and gets away with it."

"Malfoy's gonna pay." George chimed in shaking his fist. "Screw prankster rivalry, you want to help us Harry? All of you guys?"

"Won't make Ginny feel better." Harry felt a spark light in his brain. "But I know what might. And _I'll_ need _your_ help. You in?"

"In an instant."

"Obviously."

"And we'll need outside help too, people who helped us last year. A lot of stuff could go wrong, even the first step's a doozy and they just get harder after that. Ron, Neville I definitely won't have much time for my assignments for a while. Savvy? ."

"We got you Harry. But what do you have in mind."

"_Humiliation._"

"But I thought you said we weren't going to get Malfoy directly."

"We're not." Harry smiled his crocodile smile. "We're gonna let Ginny do it."

Over the next few weeks Harry became a ghost. He rushed into lessons late or barely by the bell and began to look even more tired than Hermione. He could be found at odd times in the library or pawing over odd sheets of parchment with the Weasley twins, speaking in whispers.

Madam Pince had raised her eyebrows further that Harry had thought humanly possible when he'd taken out certain books. But none of them were actually restricted so she stamped them out with only her usual level of distain.

"Mr Potter do you seriously think I will believe this is your essay?" McGonagall had confronted him one lesson. "When the handwriting is not yours and in fact strongly resembles Miss Grangers. What are you spending all your time on anyway?" Harry had simply leaned closer to his teacher and whispered…

"Winning you the Quidditch cup."

They had no homework set that lesson.

Harry lost so many points in Snape's classes that he considered simply not turning up since that would lose him less overall. However potions gave him the perfect opportunity to smirk at Malfoy over his cauldron. Everyone in school knew Harry was up to something and it was an easy guess as to who was the intended target, even the target himself. Malfoy spent potions class sweating under Harry's gaze, wondering what he was planning.

"What are you up to Potter?" Malfoy had confronted him after one lesson.

"I'm not up to anything Dracs." Harry gave his nemesis a thumbs up. "Just surfing along you know _Que sera sera_." As Draco hurried off Harry glanced back at the potions master. Again the pressure mounted and he lasted barely a count of five before he had to tear his eyes away. He thought he saw Snape mouth 'just like your father' before he turned away. Harry shook his head to clear it, Snape wasn't a priority right now.

Harry signed up to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas but encouraged the marauders to visit their families.

"I have so much still to do I'd be bad company anyway."

"Wish we could stay mate." Fred said shaking his head dejectedly.

"Yeah, we promised we'd help you then we just leave." George also shook his head, unconsciously falling into the exact rhythm of his twin.

"Don't worry. It'll be finished by the end of the Holidays anyway."

Harry's Christmas presents were as good as they always were, the standard Patil book set this year was basically a big encyclopedia of charms and Neville had found him a jesters hat that flashed different colors as the bells jiggled. Hermione had got him a homework planner.

"Bless her." Harry thought, taking a bite of Honeydukes chocolate. "She tries."

Harry was waiting by the steps as the students returned from the their homes with a parcel wrapped in paper under his arm. He caught sight of the marauders plus Fred and George coming and walked out to meet them.

"Is that it?" Fred said excitedly.

"Is it finished?" His twin added.

"Yes and yes. And its _awesome!_" Harry moved past the twins to stand in front of their youngest sibling. He thrust out the parcel. "Merry Christmas. This is kind of from the twins as well. Well everyone helped actually."

"Don't do yourself down mate." Ron said. "It was mostly you."

Ginny looked down at the parcel in her hands, it dawned on her that it was very broom shaped.

"You didn't buy…" She began but Harry stopped her.

"I didn't buy. I repaired. Was a lot of fun actually. Thinking of doing it when I leave school."

"But my broom was far too broken to repair."

"Your nimbus 2000 was too smashed to fix. Malfoy's 2001 on the other hand had a fairly simple break. Reparable with a little effort. And he just threw it away like garbage." Harry tutted and shook his head. "Wasteful."

"And you fished it out?"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've dumpster dived Gins. Now unwrap the damn thing."

Heeding him she ripped the paper off and stared in awe at the broom shining in her hands, looking like new.

"It doesn't look just like a 2001." She said running her hands down the recursively curving handle.

"Well we used some parts left over from your broom as well. Plus she's got some different charms and spells we researched and we corrected the list on the tail end." Harry shrugged. "Guess she's kind of a chimera really."

"Did you name her?" Ginny asked, quickly slipping into usage of the female pronoun.

"I hadn't but I think I just did. _The Chimera._" Harry leant forward conspiratorially. "And you and her, my little protégé, are going to win us the Quidditch cup."


	19. Torrent of Ages: 4

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 4: Apples

Harry lay on his back on his bed with his mothers locket dangling above him. The bloody thing was taunting him he was sure. He had run some detection charms over it and been shocked to find that the thing was wrapped up six ways from Sunday. Harry flicked through one of the books laid around him but found nothing he hadn't already seen before.

"What now Harry." Neville had asked him earlier that day when Harry was dragging his way through some ancient runes homework. "With the plan, what do we need to do now?"

"We have to wait now Neville." Harry had looked up and met his friends eye with a smile. "Which could end up as the hardest part. But we can't do anything until some stuff plays out. Bear with me…" Harry added as his friends face fell. "… for now we're bang on target. You know the plan."

In reality the plan was far from on target, in fact it had taken a hideous lurch. It had happened one breakfast not long after Christmas…

"Harry…" Harry looked up from his bowl of cereal at the tone of utter horror in Ron's voice.

"Yes?" But Ron just pointed wordlessly over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was holding a broom with a look of utter happiness on his face. "So he has a new broom? We knew his father would buy him a new one."

"F… ff… Firebolt." That was all Ron appeared to be able to say. His face was ash white as he fumbled a Quidditch magazine out of his bag and spread it out in front of Harry, his hand shaking as he pointed to a long article.

Harry's expression went from confused to fearful then moving swiftly to terrified as he read down the Firebolt's specs. The Chimera was good but there was no way she could compete with the raw power of the Firebolt.

"Does this change the plan Harry." Harry glanced up and saw that Fred and George had moved down the table. Their usual grins dulled to worried frowns. "I, mean… It's a Firebolt." Harry tossed the magazine back at Ron and shook his head.

"The brooms only as good as the rider. We can still pull this off." Harry tried to make his voice comforting and steady. He _kind of_ succeeded. "We will."

But the Slytherin Ravenclaw game gave them ample evidence that even with a bad rider a professional broom still kicks ass. When the snitch finally appeared Malfoy was at the other end of the pitch and flying much lower than it and he had still snatched it comfortably before Cho could get anywhere near it. That, coupled with the Nimbus 2001s the rest of the team had had equaled a devastating loss for the Ravenclaw team.

The most irritating thing was that he really _could_ do nothing right now. They needed to wait at least until after the next match before the plan could progress. Waiting and watching helplessly was agony. When he had been working on the Chimera it had been like there was a big puzzle laid out in front of him and he could work at it until it was finished. Waiting was much harder because there was nothing to do. Yes he had homework and _yes_ some Slytherins had mysteriously had their shoes filled with frogspawn while they dried beside a fire but he had no puzzle to solve. He had tried to concentrate on practicing with his guitar but it wasn't enough. Then he remembered the locket.

So now he worked on finding ways to bypass its many charms and spells. Working on that difficult (but eventually solvable) problem kept his mind off other apparently unsolvable problems. Like why he had had part of last Monday twice. Twisting the locket up near the light he tried a few things.

"Lilly. Petunia. Prefect. Open Sesame." The locket remained locked and he dropped his hands in defeat. At least he had worked out that it was a password and not some other method of opening but that was about all he had discovered. He had thought of swallowing his pride and asking Professor Lupin his advice. The teacher hadn't known it was a locket but he might have had some idea or at least be able to give him the names of her childhood pets. "James. Sirius. Peter. Rose." Harry tried then gave up and stuffed the thing back into his pocket.

"I chose an irritating mystery." Harry growled then rolled over.

And fell twenty feet onto cold stone.

"Ouch!" Harry had all the air blown out of his lungs and fell into a fit of coughing before lifting his head from the floor. There was no tower above him and the walls nearby were patched and had gaping holes in them. "Well this is new." Harry commented as he levered himself up against a wall.

"Yes very much so." A pleasant lilting voice sounded out of the shadows down the hall. "New, but not finished as yet." A tall man with a broad beard and a mane of red hair, barely held down by a battered hat, moved into view and knelt down by Harry. His accent was archaic and his clothes matched that description as did the jeweled sword in his hand. A deep suspicion seeped through Harry.

"You wouldn't be Godric Gryffindor would you?" Harry said. Hoping for a no.

"You've heard tell of me." The man seemed pleasantly surprised. He whipped his hat off his head then stuffed his sword into it, appeared to rummage around for a moment then drew out a short rod topped with a crystal ball. As he waved the scepter over Harry it emitted a warm light and Harry felt the bruises of his fall disappear even quicker than Madam Pomfrey could have managed. "There, all better." The man smiled and dropped the rod back into his hat.

"You got a rabbit in there too." Harry quipped. Falling back on flippancy as the more sane portions of his brain waved little white flags.

"A rabbit? Why would one keep a rabbit in a headpiece." The founder smiled. "Wouldn't it make rather a mess on the head?"

The sparkling eyes reminded Harry of Dumbledore, comforting him somewhat.

"How did you come to be here?" Gryffindor asked as he helped Harry to his feet. "Or more accurately speaking; How did you come to be a good thirty spans above here?"

"I don't really know." Harry shrugged. "I was lying in bed trying to open… say?" Harry dug the locket out of his pocket. If anyone could work this thing out…

"I've been trying to work out the password on this thing. You got any ideas?"

Godric Gryffindor appeared to like a good mystery as much as Harry and pulled what looked like a jewelers eyeglass out of his hat before using it to examine the little slip of silver. Without appearing to notice what he was doing he reached into the hat again and pulled out what looked like a Cornish pasty. Munching on it he turned the locket over and over in his other hand. "Have you attempted a peeling yet? It would certainly be effective."

"Peeling?" Harry had never heard of a charm or spell like that. "No, what's that?"

"An apple peel." Gryffindor finished off his pasty and made a dipping motion. "Soak an apple in diviners broth that also has the locket soaking deep within it. Then peel the fruit in one strip with a silver knife. Toss the peel over thy left shoulder and it should form the shape of the password." Gryffindor handed the locket back. "But you still have not told me how you got here."

"I honestly don't know. I've been jumping around in time all this year. Never this far though." Harry shook his head.

"Truly?" Gryffindor sounded sad for a moment and looked at him through the jewelers glass. His eye fell on Harry's chest on the left side and he let out a great sigh. "Oh, I am truly sorry my boy."

"What? What is it?" Harry unbuttoned his shirt and bit back a cry as he saw the massive red scar stretching over the left half of his chest. It was pockmarked and splotchy, almost like someone had spilled acid on him and it had only ate him away where the droplets had fallen. "That's never been there before! And I can't feel it!"

"You cannot feel it because you have not suffered it yet." Gryffindor bowed his head, a tear blooming in the corner of his eye. "Also you will only see it when you are out of your true time. You are caught in the torrent of ages now and there is no way to survive. It will get worse and worse until the event that caused it in the first place occurs. I wish I had better news little one, but I am afraid you are doomed."

The two figures stood silently in the corridor. Harry spoke first.

"But if it hasn't happened yet, can't I stop it?"

"The laws of cause and effect must be followed, even if they do not happen in the traditional order."

"Well I don't buy it." Harry shook his head and crossed his arms angrily. "I will not eat up this bullshit you're peddling. And I want to go back!" Harry felt his rage rising, a burst of accidental magic made a flagstone crack. "I want to go back to my own time, NOW!" Harry pushed his eyes closed then snapped them open. Gryffindor was gone, and the castle was whole again.

"That's better." He said to the castle as a whole.

"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM!"

Harry spun and made shushing noises to quite the fat lady who was now slumped over the back of her chair with her hand over her chest, breathing heavily.

"It's alright, it's alright. Unguent is the password isn't it?"

Still staring at him in shock the fat lady nodded and opened for him. Harry went quickly through the empty night-time common room and slipped back up into the third-years bedroom.

Gryffindor's words troubled him though, even though the whole experience still felt kind of surreal. Should he go to Dumbledore? Would the headmaster help or just say the same thing as his long-time predecessor?

Suddenly Harry remembered something and smiled. He did have someone eminently qualified to answer questions about time and destiny. Grabbing a quill and parchment Harry jotted down a long note to his Greek pen-pal. Originally he only meant to ask about the torrent but as he wrote he began to include everything that had happened since his last letter until the missive was several sheets long.

"Digger will not be happy." Harry chuckled as he got out of bed for the second time that night. Not wanting to wake the fat lady again after the scare he'd given her he padded over to his favorite window, climbed through it and set off in the direction of the owlery.

"Is that a hair growth potion Potter?"

"No sir."

"It isn't?"

"No sir."

Snape took a deep breath, he was going to enjoy this.

"For the first time ever in my class you are correct. You have not brewed a hair growth potion. You have not even _attempted_ to brew a hair growth potion. Can you explain to me why you have brewed a different potion, from a different book. Brewed what appears to be a diviners broth that is not even on the Hogwarts syllabus. And can you explain why, even when you have chosen your own potion, you have still managed to utterly fail."

The insufferable boy glanced at the scummy green mess that filled his cauldron.

"I blame society sir."

"Society?"

"Yes sir."

"Fifty points from Gryffindor."

"Well deserved sir."

Almost a week later Harry was out hunting for an apple. He had finally acquired some passable diviners broth by the simple dint of asking any of the marauders if they could puzzle it out. The potion wasn't that hard, it was just beyond Harry's abysmal level of skill. Somehow the two sets to twins had puzzled it out. Harry smiled to himself, had he just referred to Fred and George as marauders? Well, they almost were, but Myrtle didn't like them because they had throw a bucket of slop through her once so they'd have to apologize before they could be officially sworn in.

But now he was tromping through the rain, looking for an apple. Or at least an apple tree, he knew a charm to make it bear a fruit out of season. When he'd read up on the peeling it had said that it worked best when you picked the fruit yourself so Harry had asked Hagrid where all the apple tree's on the grounds were (the ones on the safe side of the wards obviously). Unfortunately what he hadn't counted on was that they were mostly small wild trees with fruits not nearly large enough to produce a good peel. He needed a big cooking apple or something.

Harry preformed the charm on another sodden bloom only to be rewarded by another tiny crab apple.

"Sod this." Harry grumbled and pulled his robe closer around himself. On reflex he checked the skin on his left side, plain and unblemished, to reassure himself that he was still in the right time. His fingers moved to his pendent hanging on its new chain. Pythea hadn't written back yet, but then it took a while for an owl to fly to Greece and back and Harry had asked Digger to stay there until the seer had a reply for him to save her making four trips.

"I'm testing one last tree then getting inside where it's warm." Harry stomped through the mud down to a wizened old tree by the lakeshore. And performed the charm one last time.

"Bugger." More small fry. Harry was about to turn away and walk back up to the castle when he saw a splash of color on the far bank. Scrambling out on the roots of the old tree to get a better look he bit back an oath. There was a little girl lying on the east bank, half in and half out of the bushes near the edge of the forbidden forest. She wasn't moving and she was facedown in the water.

"HEY!" Harry yelled for anyone listening. "SOMEONE! HAGRID!" But the wind took his words away. "Oh my god. Why does this stuff always happen to me?"

Harry looked around for an alternative option but saw nothing.

"I hate my life." Harry said before tugging his shoes and robe off and leaping into the dark water.

For a moment the water closed over his head and he breathed in a mouthful of water in shock and terror but he bobbed to the surface and coughed it up before striking out for the stricken figure on the far bank. He had to go a little way out from the bank to avoid the edge of the ward but then he could come back in and eventually dragged himself up onto the far bank.

"I am never doing that again." Harry breathed as he staggered towards the girl. "No more lakes."

As he neared the girl the half of her that had been hidden in the bushes came into view and he stopped in shock. She wasn't a girl at all, she was a centaur. And she had a massive bite on her side, red and scabbed. Harry moved forward and dragged her face out of the water.

"Girl?" Harry slapped her face and tried to listen for breathing. She was still warm. "Wake up!"

Suddenly the centaurs eyes shot open and she coughed up a slew of lake water into Harry's lap.

"You alright? Hey?"

"Of course, I am alright." The girls voice was weak but she seemed to be working her legs as if trying to get up. "We are not fragile like humans."

"Not fragile eh? Looks like someone managed to break you a little." Harry said, glancing back at the wound.

"Werewolf." Harry stiffened but the centaur-girl laughed. "It will be gone now." She pointed at the slightly waning moon in the sky. "This bite is days old. I was just disoriented and I wandered away from my herd."

"Will you… I mean are you…"

"Infected?" She used the word like a slur. "Of course not. Lycanthropy is a human illness."

"Shall I get Dumbledore? Or Hagrid?"

"Unnecessary." She waved a human arm and finally managed to get up on her hooves. "My herd are nearby, I can smell them."

"You got disoriented before." Harry followed her as she began to limp off into the forest.

"The bite was infected. It has healed now."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to Hogwarts instead?" Harry pointed back at the castle being rapidly obscured by trees. "It's right there."

"I do not need Humans."

"Sure." Harry said mockingly "Because you were picking yourself out of the water just fine by yourself."

"Shut up foal."

Harry frowned but followed the lame centaur deeper into the forest. After half an hour or so Harry heard something huge approaching and tensed. But then relaxed as three centaurs emerged from the undergrowth.

"Lachesis!" One of them cried and ran forward to embrace the little centaur. "You are safe."

"Of course father." The girl replied irritated and pushed him away.

"We'll this worked out fine. I'll just be…" But Harry trailed off as the elder centaurs turned to him.

"You!" The largest centaur spat and Harry suddenly found two arrowheads pointed at his neck. "Abomination!"

"Bane, we need to kill him now!" The third centaur said shock and fear dripping from his voice. Lachesis and her father were standing off to one side. "We cannot risk him living."

"I thought we did not harm foals." The father moved in closer and reached out for the leaders shoulder.

"_He_ is an exception." The third spoke. "Do you knot know how aberrant he is? How dangerous?"

"Um…" Harry's head just kept flicking from side to side, trying to follow the conversation. Running was impossible, he was in their forest. "Is this about the torrent…" But Lachesis interrupted him.

"He saved my life father. The herd has life debt to him." They did? First Harry had heard of it. The leading centaur had still not spoken but grimaced and lowered his bow.

"For the debt the young one bears you…" He began, his voice deep and malevolent. "… you live today. But heed me foal, if we find you in our forest again not even Lachesis will hesitate to kill you." Harry looked at the young centaur and saw her give a confirming nod.

"Understood. But the thing is I don't know if I can find my way back." Harry glanced apologetically over his shoulder.

"Damwain, show him to Hogwarts." Bane was already turning and moving off through the undergrowth. Harry was relieved to see that Damwain was Lachesis' father and not the third centaur who had been so intent on killing him. Damwain set off the way Harry had come and Harry had to trot to keep up. After a while the silence began to grate on Harry and he decided to break it.

"Why did the other centaurs want to kill me?" Harry asked as he stumbled over a root.

"Not other." The centaur said curtly.

"What?"

"Not other centaurs. I also want to kill you, but I will keep to the laws of our kind that prohibit harming the young and I acknowledge my daughters debt to you."

"But why? What have I done to so royally piss off the entire centaur nation?"

"You have done nothing. You merely _are_." Damwain shook his head. "As you heard before. You are aberrant."

"It this about the torrent of ages?" Harry guessed. The centaur looked up and the stars and sighed.

"The torrent? It is at the centre of it." The centaur lapsed into silence again but didn't seem angry or anything. Harry decided it was probably alright to ask another question.

"Does the torrent have anything to do with why the werewolves are gathering?"

"What possible connection could there be between those things?" The centaur scoffed. "No the werewolves gather for an altogether different reason."

"Which is…?"

"Their leader had come." Damwain sounded angry now. "A man almost as much an abomination as you. He has gathered them here. He seems to think he has some way to enter Hogwarts."

"Does he?" Harry asked.

"I seriously doubt it." Damwain scoffed. "The Hogwarts wards have stood against the greatest minds in generations. They will not fall to something little more than an animal." Damwain fell silent then came to a halt. He turned to Harry and said…

"Leave now." Harry started, then realized that he could see the castle through the trees. They had returned by a much more direct rout than he had left. "Take Bane's warning seriously, to be caught in the forest again means death for you." And with that the centaur turned and galloped off into the wood.

"Do you think I _want_ to keep visiting the bloody forbidden forest!" Harry yelled after him.

"A leader?" Padma leant over the marauders table and spoke just above a whisper.

"That's what he said. Course he also said I was an abomination."

"A man who knows what he's taking about."

Harry stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oh be serious!" Hermione chided them. "This is important."

"You're telling me. The centaurs want to kill Harry!" Ron said, aghast.

"I meant about the werewolves!"

"But the wards keep them out." Ron narrowed his eyes. Harry groaned, an argument was about to start. "I think a whole species who want to fill Harry with arrows is more important."

"Then Harry just doesn't go into the forest. Which he shouldn't be anyway." Hermione gave Harry a piercing stare.

"If he hadn't we wouldn't know about the centaurs or your precious werewolves." Ron crossed his arms triumphantly.

"That doesn't make it a good thing! We should…" Hermione continued talking as Harry gently stood a large book up on its edge between the arguing pair and the rest of the marauders. The argument safely contained Harry turned and asked…

"Any comments from the non-old-married-couple section of the table?" The marauders grinned (except for Parvati who was moping a little. She hadn't liked having her illusions about centaurs shattered.)

"I actually agree with Ron." Neville said quietly and hesitantly, as if waiting to be shot down.

"So do I." Padma nodded. "There has to be a reason the centaurs want you dead." Harry was forced to nod, he had never actually told the marauders about the time jumps.

"Well I agree it's a puzzle." Harry said shaking his head. "But I'm really not going to be visiting the forest anytime soon so I think its probably not a problem. Or at least not a pressing one…" Pythea still hadn't written back. Had Digger got into some sort of trouble? "… so I think we need to focus on the werewolves."

Reluctantly the marauders nodded.

"Damwain said their leader had come. Which means he arrived some time in the summer Holliday. I doubt he caught the knight bus so how did he get here? And why?"

"Oh!" A noise came from beyond the book barrier and a moment later Hermione pushed it down. "Maybe he did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Hermione began fidgeting nervously. "… what if there was a werewolf in Hogwarts castle."

"Wards would stop it getting in." Ron said dismissively.

"But if it was already inside the wards."

"Hermione…" Harry clicked irritably. "… get to the point." Hermione seemed flustered for a moment. Ron glared at him.

"I think that Professor Lupin is a werewolf."

The table went silent in shock. Then…

"Of course! It all fits, he's 'sick' during full moon. His bogart is the full moon! It all fits!" Parvati snapped her fingers.

"I wonder if Dumbledore knows." Neville said.

"He must not or Lupin wouldn't be here."

"I can't believe Dumbledore wouldn't know." Neville shook his head. "If we could work it out Dumbledore could."

"Professor Snape knows." Hermione added. "He must do, that's why tried to teach us about werewolves. So we'd work it out."

"Do you think he's gathered the werewolves." Parvati said in a hushed tone.

"it's the right timeframe but…" Hermione began but Harry cut her off.

"No." The others stared at him. "No no no no no. We're not doing this." Harry stated flatly. The marauders stared at him.

"Doing what Harry?" Ron asked.

"I have had enough déjà vu this year without intentionally repeating last year. We. Will. Not. Jump. To. Conclusions." Harry punctuated each word by poking the table hard. "Last year we went off all righteous against Professor Michelson and we turned out to be dead wrong. We won't do that again."

"Harry…" Ron said as if explaining something to a child. "We have a werewolf, we have a gathering of werewolves. That's not jumping to conclusions that's putting two and two together."

"You all think its Lupin." Harry said it flatly. Most of the marauders seemed unclear as to whether it was a question or not. Ron nodded quickly, Parvati as well. Neville seemed to be trying to avoid being looked at but shook his head, Padma smiled at him and also said no. Harry turned to Hermione. "Two votes yes, two votes no. Ginny's at practice and Myrtle's not here. You're the last un-voted marauder."

"I…I don't know Harry." Hermione faltered. "I don't really know."

"No?" Harry stood up suddenly. "Lets ask him."

"WHAT!" But Harry was already making for the portrait hole.

"Professor Lupin listen…" Harry pushed open the door to the teachers office without knocking and began talking as soon as he was over the threshold. "…we know you're a werewolf." Lupin went from angry to gob-smacked in a fraction of a second. His mouth began working but no sound came out.

"Actually we didn't know for sure…" Harry conceded. "… but I think you just confirmed it for us. Thanks!" By then the rest of the marauders had caught up and were standing in the doorway, speechless.

"So we know you're a werewolf, we know the forest currently has a werewolf problem. Naturally certain questions have arisen from this state of affairs namely 'Are you in any way involved?'. I personally think the answer is no, certain of my friends are not so sure and it would be remiss of me to dismiss their suspicions as they are, after all, not unfounded." Harry said all this in one breath then stood waiting for an answer. A polite cough made him turn around. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at a table behind him. He did not look pleased.

"You're obviously busy I'll come back later." Harry hadn't moved a single step before the door slammed shut. "Or not."

"Harry, I am glad you came here." Professor Dumbledore spoke softly. "It has saved us the trouble of fetching you. Can you please explain why you left the school grounds last night?"

Damn.

"Um… There was a centaur hurt, at the side of the lake. I went to see if I could help. She was face down in the water." Harry was quick to add. "If I had gone to fetch someone she could have died in the mean time. Ask Damwain, or… or Bane. They were there." Harry had though centaur-name dropping might lend credibility to his story. In fact neither Dumbledore nor Lupin reacted to his statement.

Suddenly the room darkened, the light from the windows fading into night. Harry quickly checked his chest, the wound was there. Harry looked up too see that Dumbledore and Lupin were still in the room, this time sitting in two comfortable chairs.

"It's just…" Lupin began, his voice catching. "… he looks so like him."

"I know Remus, I know." Dumbledore was holding a mug of something steaming. It had a marshmallow floating in it. "Have you been watching him?" Dumbledore gestured to a raged piece of paper on the table between them. From where Harry stood he could just about make out the outline of Hogwarts but didn't want to get closer for fear of being seen.

"Yes. I have." Was all Lupin said before the room lit back again and Harry was forced to try and remember what had been said just before he left.

"So you see, I kind of had to leave the grounds." Harry finished lamely. Both professors looked unconvinced. Harry sighed, "Can you at least tell me whether you knew professor Lupin was a werewolf before you punish me?"

"I was aware. It is under control." Was all Dumbledore said on the matter. "And as for punishment…"

"The whole castle!?" Ron squeaked.

"Every square inch of corridor." Harry repeated to the dumfounded marauder. "With this." He held up a small hand brush.

"That's harsh. Especially for Dumbledore." Ron said shaking his head.

"I have a feeling that they're using this one thing they can prove as an excuse to punish me for all the things they can't." Harry shrugged, unconcerned. "It won't take that long."

"You're taking this awfully calm." Ron's brow furrowed. Harry laughed.

"Of all the things currently happening Ron this is the _least_ of them."

"Oh!" Ron said as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "Myrtle found you a good apple tree. Just left of the gate to Hogsmead."

"I'm could marry that ghost!"

Harry went out that day and acquired a massive green apple from the tree. Returning to Gryffindor tower in a rush he set up the diviners broth and dropped first the locket then the apple into it.

"Come on, come on." Harry urged, looking at the clock. When the needed five minutes were up he fished both items out of the broth and reached for a silver knife. He had to be careful now, a mistake would mean he had to start all over. Slowly, carefully he peeled it in a single long coil that ended up all over the table. He'd cut quite deep so the peel wouldn't break and now wondered if that was a problem.

"Only one way to find out." Harry moved so that the table was behind him and threw the peel over his left shoulder. Turning he saw the peel snaking around violently, kinking and twisting as it formed recognizable letters. A long password for an apple peel, it had had to stretch and still only just managed it.

Harry picked up the locket and, with some trepidation, spoke the password. The locket fell open in his hand and he held it up to his eye to get a better look at what was inside. And snapped it shut, dropped it back into the box, locked the box with the strongest charm his suddenly beleaguered mind could come up with, slid the box into his bag, grabbed the peel, tore it up so no one else could read the password then, to be sure, threw the peel in the fire and then sat down.

"I hate mysteries." Was all he said.


	20. Torrent of Ages: 5

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 5: Duels

"That was amazing!" Ron was yelling as they walked back from the lakeside Quidditch pitch. "She didn't even let Cedric get close."

Harry rolled his eyes, Ron would be talking about this all week. The Chimera's performance had been impressive though, he had to concede. Ginny had slipped past Cedric Diggory, using her brooms improved manageability to body-swerve him, and had left him floundering in the centre of the pitch while she snagged the snitch.

"I mean really amazing." Ron continued, caught in reminiscence.

"I'm just glad its over." Harry sighed and put his hands behind his head. "It means we can move on with the plan."

"You think it'll work Harry?" Padma asked, frowning. "I mean all it takes is for one of them to…"

"It'll work." Harry grinned. "Trust me."

"Why does that fail to fill me with confidence."

"Because you're a sourpuss." Harry tutted at her in mock anger then turned to her sister. "You sure about your info."

"You know me Harry." Parvati said happily. "It it's gossip I know it."

"Awesome." Harry grinned and peeled away from the other marauders. "I'll go find us our helper."

"Pathetic Potter. Absolutely Pathetic."

Harry leaned over and looked at the congealed mess at the bottom of his cauldron.

"Oh I don't know." He said. "It's definitely not a sleeping potion, but it could make a serviceable bathroom grout."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your insolence Potter and ten more for the potion. Honestly potter, having you in this classroom is nothing more than a waste of time and potion ingredients."

"Just because I can't brew a sleeping potion…"

"WE WERE NOT MAKING A SLEEPING POTION!"

"Oh…" Harry flipped to the next page of his book, then back to the one he had been looking at before. "So I wasn't meant to add cedar sawdust?" Snape's rage was actually making him vibrate as he stood in front of Harry's desk. "How about the sheep's liver, was I meant to add that?"

"Potter I seriously doubt a _single_ correct ingredient went into this… this… _travesty_." Snape stalked away as Harry moved to clear up his desk. Then he had a thought…

"Water!" He said at the retreating potion masters back. "That must have been a correct ingredient, that's in every potion!"

Snape turned around, his gaze screamed bloody murder.

"Potter." The professor growled, grinding his teeth together. "Detention."

Harry sighed theatrically then stiffened as he felt another painful stab at the back of his brain. He tore his eyes away quickly and mumbled.

"Yes sir." Snape turned away.

"Occlumency still not working Harry?" Parvati was leaning over her own desk to whisper in his ear.

"I think I was better at it before I started trying." Harry lowered his head onto his arms dejectedly. He honestly wasn't that bothered about Occlumency any more but it had reminded him of something else. Pythea still hadn't wrote back.

The day of the Gryffindor Ravenclaw game dawned mucky and wet. A steady downpour that patterned great dark stains across the castles walls and made it look like it was crying.

Harry was a screaming ball of nerves as he sat with the other marauders near the top of the Gryffindor stand. Anything could go wrong, absolutely anything, but that was normal. What was making him so insane was that there was now nothing he could do about it. The metaphorical arrow had left the bow, it would either hit or it wouldn't, there was nothing he could do.

"Will the rain screw up the plan?" Neville was muttering beside him. "Will the wet? Will…"

"No." Harry snapped irritable. "It'll all be fine."

"How can you say that?"

Because I'm living in denial? Because I don't want to disappoint anyone? Because I'm delusional? Because if I actually admitted that there's a very good chance this could go fantastically pear shaped on us I might just start crying?

"I just have this feeling." Harry said and tried to grin. "Trust me."

"Stop saying that." Padma was grinding her teeth together . "It doesn't help."

"Shh! Here they come."

"WOOD! JOHNSON! BELL! SPINNET! WEASLEY, WEASLEY AND WEASLEY!"

The team swept onto the pitch, their robes quickly becoming spattered and sodden.

"Here we go." Thought Harry as he tugged his coat closer around him.

"How much do we need to win by?" Harry heard a voice say below him and looked down. On the row beneath him Colin Creevey was leaning over to talk to Luna Lovegood. "The snitch is worth one hundred and fifty so…"

"We have to have at least twelve goals when Ginny catches the snitch or we lose to Slytherin." The second year said dreamily. "Ravenclaw have to have thirty seven goals before they catch it. Its as plain as frackswhiskers."

Harry smiled, how wrong she was.

"Another goal for Ravenclaw!" Ginny saw the blue section of the stands erupt in cheers beneath her.

"Sorry Angelina! I was aiming for Hunt!" She heard Fred yell their team-mate shoved two fingers up at him.

"Gryffindor now ahead by just four goals!" Yelled Lee Jordan. "Wake up twins! What are you doing out there!"

Ginny shook her head. Gryffindor had had a comfortable six goal lead but now they were down to just four. And they still didn't have enough to beat Slytherin. She could see Cho out of the corner of her eye, shadowing her. She liked to do that, Oliver had told her, it was her favorite tactic.

Ginny scanned the crowds through the rain, searching for any hovering glint of gold. The snitch had to come out sometime, not that it would do either team any good. Gryffindor needed another goal and Ravenclaw needed twenty or something. She craned her neck around and saw it. Fluttering behind her, nearer to Cho than to her. Trying not to make it obvious Ginny turned away from the snitch. But Cho must have sensed something was wrong and a moment later had spotted it herself. The older seeker tore after it and Ginny was forced to tail her, cursing.

Ginny tried to get between Cho and the snitch to stop the older seeker. Ginny knew she couldn't catch it yet, they'd win the match but lose the cup. But Cho wasn't letting her in, they were shoulder to shoulder with the snitch tantalizingly close in front of them. Cho reached out and Ginny knocked her hand away. So close, Gryffindor just needed one more goal. Cho was reaching again and Ginny shoulder barged her to make her miss. Ginny tried to pull ahead but whatever she did Cho seemed to be able to match her. However hard she pushed Cho seemed to be able to stay just a little bit ahead of her. It was just a matter of time, she couldn't keep the Ravenclaw off forever. Cho was reaching out again…

"Sorry Oliver." She thought, and grabbed the snitch. A cheer went up around the lakeside stadium.

"I had to." She said as she hovered down by her team-mates. "Cho was going to get it. I thought it was better to at least win the match."

"I know Ginny." Oliver Wood looked resigned. "I don't blame you."

"Cheer up Olli!" Fred floated past, strangely jubilant.

"Yeah, we didn't lose to Slytherin. We were only one goal shy, we drew." George flew around the other side.

"What does that mean?" Ginny frowned. But it was as if a light had just gotten switched on in Oliver Woods head. "What happens when we draw?"

"Hasn't happened in over two hundred years." Fred had his arm on one of her shoulders now and was smiling down at her. "The rule's so old they never bothered to repeal it." His twin came up, placed his arm on her other shoulder and said….

"It's decided, once and for all, by a seekers duel."

Ginny's eyes went wide and she looked over at the Slytherin stands and caught a cold grey gaze staring back at her. It could have been her imagination but she could have sworn she saw Malfoy mouth the word 'rematch'.

"Do you know how the Duel works Ginny?" Oliver wood sounded like he could barely keep the joy from his voice.

"We both go for the snitch?" She guessed.

"Not quite, the rules are different than in general play. Specifically the rules for fouls."

"No magic and no interfering with the other seekers broom." Angelina said, off to one side. "Everything else is on the table. He could really hurt you up there Gin."

"Ginny…" Oliver Wood was talking again. "I didn't want to ask this of you, but this is my last chance at the Quidditch cup. My very last chance, so catch the snitch or die trying."

Ginny's eyes went wide with fear.

"Are both seekers ready?" Madam Hooch asked, looking between them. Ginny took her broom from Harry and nodded, he'd been giving it a last minute look-over before the duel. Malfoy just scoffed. "Very well then." She opened the box that contained the snitch and held it in her hands. Ginny looked over to see the almost feral look in Malfoy's eyes.

"On, your marks."

He'll kill me…

"Ready…"

Oh god…

"Set…"

I'm going to die!

GO!" She tossed the snitch straight up and the seekers shot after it.

Ginny felt fingers curl into her hair and try and yank her backwards, she kicked out savagely and managed to pull away. The snitch was still shooting upwards and the seekers followed it. Malfoy was scratching and punching at her and she responded by elbowing him in the kidneys. Having six brothers gives you a lot of training in brawling. Malfoy jerked instinctively and Ginny swerved in front of him.

She had to stay ahead, with the firebolt's power she knew that if she let him get in front she'd never be able to catch up. He swerved left, she blocked him. He swerved right, she twitched in front again and heard him cry out in frustration.

"You shot yourself in the foot Malfoy." She thought triumphantly. "You can't handle that broom at these speeds."

Once more he tried to pass her and she used The Chimera's hair-trigger turning power to cut him off again.

"Good girl." She urged the broom on. The snitch was tantalizingly close. "Just a little more." But she felt something brush her leg. Malfoy had managed to sneak to her side! In another second he would be in front of her!

With the prospect of losing the cup filling her mind she did the only thing she could think of. She pulled back her leg and aimed with her heel. She just had time to register the shock hit Malfoy's face.

"Payback snake-boy!" She thought as she slammed her foot into his face as hard as she could. She saw a spurt of blood that was quickly lost in the wind and rain then Malfoy peeled off and spiraled away, holding his face in both hands. "Yes!"

She looked back up and caught sight of the golden ball. Straining up she reached…

"YES!" The Gryffindor stand erupted in cheers. Harry even leapt to his feet and yelled himself horse. Not so much for the cup, but for the fact that everything had gone perfectly. Harry and the marauders rushed down the stands and reached the pebbled beach just as the Gryffindor team was landing. Oliver Wood was floating down with his arms wrapped around Ginny whispering…

"Thank you, thank you." And the rest of the team were clustered around them.

"Se 'oke 'I nose!" Malfoy was floating down nearby, holding a hand to his face to stem the flow of blood.

"Perfectly legal in a seekers duel Malfoy." Fred said airily.

Harry just stood their laughing as the Quidditch cup was brought out.

Damn.

Professor Snape clenched his hands into fists and he saw the cup being brought out. And Slytherin had been on such a winning streak. He had got so used to the cup being in his office that he even had a little shelf in his cabinet for it.

To have come down to an exact draw, of all the abysmal luck. Then being forced to rely on a seeker that had bribed his way onto the team. The little slip of a Weasley girl had humiliated him. And he could not even blame this loss on Potter (he refused to believe the ridiculous rumor that Potter had _made_ the girls broom).

Then why was Potter looking so triumphant? Snape recognised that expression, he had come to _hate_ that expression all seven years of his time at Hogwarts. The Potter boy caught his eye and shifted to a mysterious grin, then nodded towards the scoreboard. Snapes eyes followed.

What were the chances that it would come to an exact draw? Snape felt a horrible certainty rise inside him. And the Weasley twins who, for all their ineptitude in the classroom, were not bad beaters. But they had performed horribly in that match, hitting or just missing their own team-mates. Stopping Gryffindor from getting that last goal. The Chang girl, missing the snitch three times? Even for a Ravenclaw that was unlikely. Even the last game with Hufflepuff. Cedric Diggory had shown no guile, he had practically _shown_ Malfoy where the snitch was. Of course he had, Snape realised, if the game had gone on too long and Slytherin had won by too much Gryffindor could not have been able to equalize.

Snape's eyes were once again drawn to the Potter boys green ones.

_Legilimens_

He cast non-verbally and after a moments resistance a memory floated to the surface…

"You know me Harry." Parvati said happily. "It it's gossip I know it."

"Awesome." Harry grinned and peeled away from the other marauders. "I'll go find us our helper."

Harry wandered up into the castle. If he was right about her schedule she should be right… Ah!

"Cho! Cho wait up." Harry trotted up to the older girl, who had just left Charms class. "Been looking for you."

"Me?" She turned, looking curious. "Why? It can't be to ask me to Hogsmeade, I know you're not allowed to go."

"As if that could stop me." Harry rolled his eyes. "No, what I was going to say was that I kind of need a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"A big one. Listen I've never cashed in on the whole saved-everyone-from-Voldemort-before-I-knew-how-to -walk-and-then-twice-again-in-the-last-two-years thing but I really need your help." Harry motioned Cho into the now empty classroom and closed the door. "Firstly we need to get some things clear. You can't win the Quidditch cup, can you?"

Cho stared at him indignantly.

"I'm just saying you have to win with how many goals? Thirty-four or something?" He knew it was exactly thirty four but he wasn't gonna say that.

Cho held out a moment longer, then her shoulders slumped.

"You're right, it's not going to happen is it. It's your fault you know." Cho pointed at him. "When Ginny broke her broom and didn't get a new one straight away I thought we were in with a chance."

"I know." Harry nodded, not believing his luck that Cho had brought this up of her own accord. "Horrible business that wasn't it?"

"Malfoy should be hogtied!" Cho said hotly. "It was disgusting what he did!"

"God I must be the luckiest man on the planet." Harry thought, then continued out loud. "I agree. And that's kind of what this is about."

"How?"

"I want to make it so that Ginny can humiliate him in front of the entire school. Not the whole team, just him. One on one."

"Harry the teachers won't allow a challenge game like that." Cho shook her head. "And even if they do no-one will come to watch."

"Not if it happens at a match." Harry smiled. "There's an old rule that says that if two houses tie for the cup the result is decided by a seekers duel."

"But Harry there's no way you can make sure the games will come down that way."

"I can't." Harry held out a hand to her. "You can."

"No!" Cho's eyes suddenly narrowed with understanding. "I won't do that! Even for you Harry."

"You said yourself Ravenclaw can't win the cup." Harry pleaded.

"But we can still put in a good showing." Cho said primly. "I won't throw the match. I'm surprised at you Harry." She added. "I didn't think you wanted the cup this badly."

"The cup? I don't give a monkey's about the cup!" Harry shook his head. "If I did don't you think I would be telling you to throw the game totally instead of just letting us draw? This is about what Malfoy did to my friend, your friend too after last year, and letting her get even."

"Ginny doesn't know about this does she." Cho said as if suddenly realizing.

"No. She's going to beat Malfoy on her own."

"I'm not even sure I can force Ginny to catch the snitch." Cho said, biting her lip. "She might just pull in front of me until Gryffindor have the goals they need."

"Two points. One: Fred and George will be stopping Gryffindor from getting that last goal. Two: I _built_ The Chimera especial for this." Harry grinned evilly. "There's a little surprise on there that I'll remove before the duel. Trust me, she can't pass you."

"She did OK in the Hufflepuff game."

"I removed it for that too."

"I still don't know…"

"Well…" Now this is where the little known benefit of having gossip-queen Parvati as a marauder comes in. "… I've already got Cedric Diggory on my side. You know him, right?" Cho's eyes widened a little and she nodded.

"Well, he's agreed to help me. Little thank you for the whole snake-army incident in the cellar last year." Harry smiled knowingly at the older girl. "If you did want to help us then we should probably arrange for you to meet up with him. Discuss… strategy… and stuff."

"You're a bad person Harry Potter." Cho shook her head, but she was smiling.

"I know."

Snape tore his eyes away. He could feel the rage bubbling up in his bloodstream.

"You!" He pointed at the boy.

"Me?" Potter put his hand to his chest in feigned innocence.

"You… you… _you_…"

"Me, me, me!" Potter was grinning in his insufferable way. By Merlin he was _exactly_ like James Potter!

"You will not get away with this!"

"With what pray tell?"

"You know _exactly_ what" Snape strode forward and grasped the front of the boys robes in his fist. "You will not get away with this!"

"Really? And you can prove it how?" Potter smiled and knocked away his hand. "Bearing in mind that Legilimency on students is illegal."

Oh the Potter boy thought he was smart did he.

"Well Potter perhaps you are correct." Snape's anger changed from a raging inferno to an icy, vengeful ache. "But I am still your teacher and I can make your four more years here a living hell."

"Was that an invitation to take your NEWT class Professor?"

"Potter…" Snape released him and turned away. "… you will regret this. Mark my words, you will _regret this_."

Harry gulped as the potions master strode away. Perhaps he'd overdone things this time. Harry glanced over at the still celebrating team. No, it was worth it. Whatever Snape did couldn't be that bad could it?

"Do you call this a silencing draught Potter!?"

"I…"

"I DO NOT CALL THIS A SILENCING DRAUGHT!"

"Maybe that's because you're yelling." Harry said through clenched teeth.

"This is a despicable mess Potter!"

"It's only barely started, I haven't even added…"

"And you won't! I will not have any more wasted ingredients!" Snape vanished the contents of Harry's cauldron. "You will be doing lines for the rest of this lesson James Potter. You will write _'I will not be an incompetent, pathetic, halfwit and a pariah on this school.'_ in the hope that perhaps the suggestion will sink in."

"My name is Harry." Harry muttered under his breath but Snape didn't seem to hear him as he strode away.

Harry motioned to Padma who held out her arm without speaking. Harry groaned, they had barely had fifteen minutes of a two hour lesson. Harry pulled out a quill and a sheet of parchment.

Snape had been making good on his _'living hell'_ promise since the match but Harry was beginning to think that the potions master had more deep seated issues than a simple game of quidditch. The fact that he kept calling him James was a definite clue. Snape seemed to be taking out thirteen years of pent-up, un-sated rage on Harry.

"Thanks dad." Harry thought sarcastically as he dragged the quill across another line. "Thanks a lot."

"What are these Potter." Oh no. He's back.

"Lines Sir." Harry had been trying to keep his cool in Snape's classes. With spotted success.

"These chicken scratchings? This _scrawl?!_"

"Would you like me to redo them Sir?" Harry had to jump back as his parchment caught on fire and burnt away before his eyes.

"Please." Snape blew the parchment ashes into Harry's face before stalking off across the dungeon.

Harry got another piece of parchment out and got to writing.

"How long are you going to put up with this Harry?" Hermione asked him after the lesson. "This is beyond unfair, you should go to McGonagall. Or Dumbledore."

"And they'll ask what I did to get him so angry in the first place." Harry shifted his bag higher on his shoulder. "And that will lead to unfortunate questions."

"He's right Hermione." Ron said from the other side, then added to Harry. "Don't worry mate, you can drop his class after OWLs."

"That's not the right attitude." Hermione said shrilly. "Harry needs to learn at least basic knowledge of potions to function in wizard society and Professor Snape is stopping him from even participating. You'll have to study really hard if you want to pass the end of year exams at this rate."

"I'm beginning to think I won't be alive that long." Harry joked.

The marauders laughed but Harry stiffened as he realized the truth in his words. He still had the torrent of ages hanging like a guillotine above him. He hadn't had any major time jumps lately, just a few minutes here and there. For the love of Merlin why hadn't Pythea written back?

As if his thought itself had been a spell Digger dropped out of the afternoon sky clutching a letter in his claws. Harry grabbed it and hastily made an excuse to the startled marauders before slipping out onto the grass outside Hogwarts. Harry sent Digger back to the owlery, promising him treats later to thank him for the long trip. His hands shaking, Harry tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

_Dear Harry_

It is so good to hear from you. I am glad you have taken up my suggestion to learn Occlumency, you will find it a useful skill I assure you. I can easily imagine you with a guitar, wandering Hogwarts or sitting in your common room entertaining the other students with songs and tales. You are good at spinning a good tale you know, I can tell from your letters.

Harry almost scrunched the letter in frustration. Usually he enjoyed letters from the little seer but wasn't it about time she got to the point?

_I learnt to play the harp as part of my apprenticeship here…_

Harry quickly looked ahead through the letter, scanning down and down. There was no mention of the torrent or time travel anywhere. Harry fell to the floor in despair, had she simply abandoned him to his fate? She had been his last hope. Pythea's letter ended without so much as a hint that his own letter had contained the threat of his inevitable death.

_I hope it the weather is a pleasant where you are as it is here._

Your Friend  
Pythea

Friend? Ha! That was a joke.

"Harry?" Harry looked back towards the castle. Neville had come after him and was not standing just a few feet away. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes Neville I'm fine." Harry said quietly, but he could feel the lump in his throat and the tears beginning to form in his eyes. Neville's eyes flickered to the letter still clutched in Harry's hand but he scrunched it up and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Well defense class is starting now." Neville pointed back towards the castle. "You sure you're alright Harry?"

"No." Harry pushed himself up and trudged towards the castle. "To be honest I'm feeling a little… abandoned. Betrayed." Neville fell into step beside him.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not now. Maybe when it's a little less fresh." Harry pushed open the door to the defense classroom. At least he could be assured of a quiet lesson, Professor Lupin tended to ignore him in classes.

"Well Potter, I see you decided to grace us with your presence."

Standing arrogantly at the front of the class was Professor Snape. Harry felt like a block of ice was settling into his chest as he sat down in his usual chair, he couldn't take this right now.

Harry tried to hide behind his book as Snape stalked around the class. He could still feel the ice in his chest and the lump in his throat, if Snape provoked him he would never be able to hold back.

"Potter…"

No.

"…Is this your essay?"

Please no.

"Yes Sir." Harry managed to say while breathing deeply to keep himself under control.

"It displays no insight into the subject…"

Fine, I had no insight.

"…for most of the essay you seem to get Kappas and Grindylows mixed up…"

Did I? Who the hell cares.

"…certain passages were clearly lifted from a textbook…"

They weren't, they were lifted from Hermione's essay.

"…and you could not have mangled the spelling and grammatical rules of the English language more if you had tried. All in all…" Snape slapped the essay onto the desk beside Harry angrily. "… a true T if I ever saw one."

"I'm glad you made that assessment Sir." Harry kept his eyes down on the book in front of him. "It's the same one as Professor Lupin made."

"But of course _hero_ Potter doesn't need to learn defense against the dark arts." Snape scowled down at Harry. "You don't need to learn how to duel someone properly if you and your three little friends sneak up behind them and attack from ambush like cowards."

I have more than three friends.

"You are arrogant Potter." Snape continued. "A trait shared by all Potters apparently."

Oh, so now you've remembered who I am.

"You are nothing but a mediocre wizard at best and a worst you are a disgrace and yet you are under the impression you are untouchable. How I wish this class gave me the opportunity to show you precisely how amateurish you truly are."

"Alright." Harry set his quill down.

"What?"

The whole class was watching by now.

"I said alright. Show me." Harry didn't meet Snape's eyes but moved out to the front of the class.

"Come on Professor." The Potter boy was just standing there holding his wand and looking at his shoes. "Show me."

The class was deathly quiet. Not a student dared move or speak. Out of the corner of his eye Snape could see Potter's little friends, wide eyed and frightened, in their seats.

"Are you serious Potter?" Snape asked.

"Yes." Was all the boy said.

"You will lose."

"Try me."

"You do not have a chance."

"Try me." Was all the Potter boy said again but he mouthed under his breath _'coward'_.

Snape felt the anger that was his constant companion rising again as he moved to take a position opposite Potter.

"Mr Hopkins you will count us in." Snape gripped his wand. He would end this with one spell. The Potter boy was still looking at the floor.

"Um… Three." The nervous Hufflepuff boy Wayne Hopkins began to count.

Potter was not even in a dueling stance. Pathetic.

"Two…"

Potter looked up suddenly, his eyes meeting Snape's.

"One…"

A memory floating to the surface, Potter in the Gryffindor common room holding a shining object. Lily's pendent! He would know that little slip of silver anywhere. Potter bending over the pendent in his hands and whispering something. The pendent splitting open. Looking inside, a picture. Lily Evens bundled up against the snow for a Hogsmeade weekend, the snow even still falling in the picture, and holding her by her shoulders keeping her warm… his own face… himself… that picture had been taken in fourth year.

She had worn it around her neck the whole time. Even after she had married, she had worn it the whole time.

"Duel!"

"_Expelliarmus!_"


	21. Torrent of Ages: 6

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 6: No one else

Snape's wand clattered to the floor but the teacher didn't seem to have noticed. Harry watched as the potions master fell to his knees on the floor, head bowed, his face hidden by his lank greasy hair.

Harry watched, waiting for the explosion, but none came. Harry, with much trepidation, knelt down and tried to look at the teachers face. Which was why he was the only one in the class to notice the tear fall down from the end of Snape's long hooked nose and drop onto his knees.

"Oh my god." Harry thought in strangled shock. "I've gone too far this time." Harry turned to the class and spread his hands.

"Everyone out." He snapped, brooking no argument. "Corridor now."

The students needed no more incentive and quickly scrambled for the relative safety of the corridor.

"Stop!" Harry yelled at some of them as they tried to escape away. "I need to talk to all of you." Harry closed the classroom door behind him and corralled the students within earshot.

"None of you will mention this lesson to anyone." Harry said, looking each student in the eye as he did so. "None of you will talk about it, even to each other. None of you will think about it the next time you have Snape for your lesson. In defense or potions. For each and every one of you, this lesson Did. Not. Happen. Don't think I won't find out if you do talk, I find out everything. Remember Malfoy? You have all seen what happens to people who cross me. Understand?"

Harry didn't let them leave until he had looked each student in the eye and heard them promise to that effect. They began leaving in ones and twos, scurrying off along the corridor. Harry turned back towards the classroom.

"You're not going back in there are you?" Susan Bones asked, amazed.

"I kind of have to." Harry answered.

"He'll kill you." She said matter-of-factly.

"I may deserve it." Harry shrugged and slipped back through the door.

Snape was still where he had been before they left. Harry took a deep breath and sat down cross legged in front of his teacher.

"I am so sorry." Harry said. "I didn't realize it would do this to you. I thought it would just distract you, you know… freak you out for a moment so I could disarm you. I never thought it would affect you like this."

Snape still said nothing, he just stared at the floor.

"I told all the students not to say anything." Harry glanced back at the door. "I think they'll do it."

Snape was still not moving. Harry began to wonder if he had been rendered catatonic or something, but there was still an occasional drip-drip of teardrops from behind the fringe of hair.

"Maybe…" Harry dragged his bag off his back and pulled the box out. He opened it and placed the locket in Snape's unresisting hand. "You take it. I don't want it. You saw the password right?"

Snape stayed motionless for a moment more then slowly brought the silver locket up to his mouth. Then, in a choked, tearful voice he said…

"_Spinners end._"

The locket cracked open. Snape seemed to break all at once and started sobbing. His whole, long, lanky body shaking with each sob. Harry didn't really know what to do, he certainly couldn't comfort this man who had tormented him so much.

Harry dug into the box again and grabbed a photograph, it was his mother and her sister when they were young, but obviously over eleven since the picture was moving. He wordlessly handed it to Snape, who took it and kept crying. He grabbed another photograph and poked his father out of the frame before handing that too over.

He kept going until the box was empty. Giving a few words each to tell Snape what it was he was giving him, an essay, a letter, a prefects badge. Harry hid the love letters from his father back in his bag. By the time nothing was left Snape had stopped crying, he was even breathing a little easier, deep breathes instead of the racking sobs that had plagued him a moment ago.

Snape sniffed loudly and put his hand into a pocket of his robes but drew it back empty. He searched another pocket while sniffing louder. Harry realized he was searching for a tissue. Struck by a twinge of mischief Harry grabbed something back out of his bag, scrunched it between his hands and handed it to Snape.

The potions master took it and blew his nose on the parchment. After doing so he brought it away from his nose, a shadow of curiosity crossing his face, and looked at it. After a moment of reading the (now hideously smudged) letter his eyes flickered up and met Harry's. It could have been his imagination, but for a moment Harry thought he saw a flicker of a smile.

"Seemed appropriate." Harry said and shrugged. Snape chucked the letter away and glanced at the door.

"You mentioned that you told the rest of your class to keep silent." Snape's voice was almost monotone.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "They'll do it too. I threatened to do to them what I did to Malfoy."

"Why?" The potions master regained a little of his old spite and sneer.

"I just…" Harry licked his lips and started again. As unwilling as he was to give Snape ammunition to use against him… "Last year I broke down completely in the hospital wing. Right on the floor. It was after Colin Creevy got petrified, it all just got too much for me. At the time I remember wishing everyone there would just forget it ever happened. I thought you might feel the same."

Snape snorted. He seemed to be recovering himself. Harry took this as his cue to leave. He picked himself up off the floor and headed for the door. Snape made no move to stop him. When Harry reached the door he turned back for a moment.

"I probably shouldn't say this…" Harry thought. "But if I don't it'll just eat at me."

"Sir?" Snape's head snapped towards him. "Can I tell you something I've noticed about wizards?" Harry took Snape's silence as an affirmative. "Wizards… wizards use quills."

"Fascinating Potter…" Snape sneered, but Harry interrupted him.

"And they use trunks even when they can charm bags to hold more. You use a steam train to get to Hogwarts. This year a steam-boat. We live in a medieval castle, the shop I bought my wand in predates Jesus Christ and we write on rolls of parchment. But its more than just that, lots of wizards are named after members of their family. A lot more of them than muggles. Even portraits and ghosts; half the time we seem to be surrounded by people who died centuries ago. What I'm getting at is…" Harry swallowed in dread at what the reaction to his next point would be.

"… wizards seem to spend a lot of time living in the past." Harry forced himself to meet Snape's eyes. "Maybe it's time you moved on."

Snape just stood there, his sneer seemed to have frozen on his lips but his eyes just seemed confused, even a little lost. Harry opened the door and left quickly.

He managed to get almost halfway down the corridor before his nerve broke and he made a mad dash for Gryffindor tower. When he was through the portrait hole he leaned against the wall and caught his breath.

"You're alive!" Harry turned and saw that the marauders were waiting on their usual table. He staggered over to them and sat down.

"We honestly thought you were a goner Harry." Ron said, shaking his head. But then his face broke into a grin. "But that was bloody brilliant what you did!"

"You wouldn't say that if you knew how I won." Harry said waving his friend to silence. "It was cruel, just cruel."

"What spell did you…" Hermione began but Harry shook his head.

"I won't say. I won't ever say."

"Snape deserved it whatever it was." Parvati said. "However cruel it was he's been horrible to you for three years. You can't tell me it was worse than what he's done to you."

"No, it probably wasn't. But it was worse than I ever want to do to anyone else." Harry leant down and laid his head on his crossed arms. "I don't want to be like them."

The marauders assured him he was not but Harry just sighed. Impending death aside if he jumped back in time now he'd consider it a blessing.

It was only as Harry got into bed that night that he remembered the letter from Pythea, the duel and its aftermath had blown it completely out of his head. He dug it back out of his robes and read it again, trying to find some hint of a clue. But there was nothing. Nothing at all.

Professor Snape dropped the photograph back onto the oak table of his quarters and held his head in his hands. The only light in the room came from the guttering candle before him and faded into the darkness around him. Snape refilled his glass with alertness potion and tried to make himself sip it this time. Sleep was not an option, not at least until he was too tired to dream.

"Move on." Snape growled into the darkness. "Were it that easy Potter, everyone would be doing it."

The idiocy of the boy, telling him to move on while at the same time giving him a pile of photos and a locket that _proved_ she loved him all along. Snape gave up and knocked back a mouthful of the searing potion.

The locket lay on the table in front of him. He hadn't dared open it again for fear of breaking down once more. He picked it up and trailed its silver chain through his fingers. Stupid thing. Snape smacked it back down onto the tabletop. But even then his fingers instinctively curled to protect the thing and he ended up skinning his knuckles. His movement blew the candle out too and he was left in bitter darkness clutching the damn thing so hard it hurt.

Snape drew his wand out to relight the candle but stopped with it held loosely in his hand. Another spell was floating in the front of his mind.

No.

He shouldn't do it. He was already sickening himself with his wallowing in grief. He was acting like a Gryffindor. Ha! He shuddered, he was acting like a Gryffindor and the Potter boy was acting more and more like a Slytherin. Potter boy… James Potter… who took Lily away. Snape could still feel the edges of the locket cutting into his palm.

"Why…" Snape forced himself to open his hand. "Why wear this but marry _him?_" What sense did that make.

_You abandoned me._

No. Snape curled his hands over his face and tried to force the memory down using Occlumency. But in his condition he could barely hold it back and another surfaced just as quickly.

_You chose your friends Sev._

I did, but it was always you.

_They hate me._

There was no one else.

_You hate me._

Never. Why will you not give me peace?

_You were my best friend._

Be silent.

_But you betrayed me._

Please.

_I can't pretend anymore Sev._

I just want to forget.

_You've changed. You've changed too much._

Snape curled his fingers around his ears, trying to stop listening to his own mind. He knew what came next.

_I can't love this you, not even as a friend. Goodbye Severus._

Snape threw his head back and howled in pain. Oh why fight it. Snape pointed his wand out and yelled…

"_Expecto Patronum!_"

The room was lit once more by silver light as the spell erupted from Snapes wand. The silver doe just stood there cocking her head at him. Snape felt tears running down his cheeks again.

"I love you."

The doe said nothing, she never did, but she walked over on her silent hooves and rested her head in his lap. She felt warm but Snape knew it wasn't real, if he tried to touch her she'd just feel like mist.

Snape laid his head down on his arms and closed his eyes. Later he finally fell asleep like that, leant over the table with his face in his arms, the doe warming him like a pet dog and the locket still held tight in his hand.

Harry stared down at his chest and tried hard to keep his breathing in check as the vast wound faded in and out. Harry gritted his teeth and concentrated on staying in this time. The wound began to fade more, after a few minutes if vanished completely. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but it was one tainted with fear. It was getting worse.

"Harry you ok in their?" Ron's voice sounded from the bathroom door.

"Yeah Ron I'm fine. Just think I'm coming down with something." Harry almost chuckled to himself, that was the understatement of the century. Harry looked up into the mirror in front of him, even without the wound he looked like a wreck. Harry opened the door and smiled at his friend. "Probably flu or something."

"You don't say? You've been kind of… um…" Ron waved his hands as if searching for the right word. "…muted… for weeks. Ever since Snape."

Harry nodded, he had been a little quiet. Intentionally in the beginning, he had known that he needed to keep a low profile. But Snape seemed to be pulling a Lupin and ignoring Harry in his lessons. Not that he was paying much attention to the rest of his class either, Snape spent most of his lessons at his desk and had large bags under his eyes.

But lately the torrent had been getting worse. He had thought that it getting worse would mean he'd jump further back but in fact it was the opposite. He kept jumping seconds, minutes or hours back and forth, several times a day now. Sometimes the world would simply vibrate like a bell and he'd be left spinning as he flickered between times so fast he couldn't even catch it. And then there were the times like this morning when he simply slipped back and forth like a metronome, the wounds on his chest opening and closing like hideous sphincters.

Even worse were the times when he didn't even realize what had happened. He'd be going to lunch then be asked why he wasn't at breakfast. He'd sit down to dinner and find cereal and toast appear in front of him. Lessons were even worse, they could be twice as long as normal or the bell could sound when Harry had barely put his book down. His marks in class were falling, homework was hard to hand in on time when you didn't know what day it was. Harry knew he should tell Dumbledore or McGonagall or Hermione even, but somehow he couldn't muster the energy. They'd only tell him what he already knew.

He was doomed.

"You sure you're alright Harry?"

Harry was drawn back from his thoughts by his friends voice.

"Yeah." Harry nodded again. "Fine."

"That just proves you're not alright." Ron said triumphantly. "You're usually loud, talking and wisecracking all over the place, you're never monosyllabic."

"You want a wisecrack? Ok…" Harry grinned evilly at his friend. " _'monosyllabic'?_ Been reading the dictionary Ron? Or just spending more time with Hermione?" Ron blushed and began spluttering…

"No just… I mean why would I…"

"It's alright Ron. Never mind." Harry shook his head, smiling wanly as he wandered away.

"You coming to Hogsmeade Harry?" Ron called after him.

"You know I can't." Harry turned back, frowning quizzically.

"Come on Harry, sneak out again." Ron wheedled. "It'll make you feel better. Get some sun, you're getting all white and pasty like Snape."

"Probably because I haven't been sleeping much." Harry thought. "Haven't been eating much either… My body clock's all screwed to hell by the jumps."

"I might get caught." Harry said lamely.

Harry rightly deserved the horrified glare Ron gave him.

"Alright." Harry shrugged. "I'll come. At least the water'll be warmer this time!"

Harry dragged himself out of the lake and gave himself a drying charm before wandering up towards town. After meeting up with the other marauders the first place they visited was Zonko's joke shop.

"Pretty good don't you think?" Harry grinned through the magical mask that made him look like an old man. He had a big grey moustache too and a green felt hat.

"You're not actually going to buy that garbage are you Harry?" Padma asked him shaking her head.

"Of course. And I'm wearing it all day." Harry said from behind the wrinkled face.

"Why?" She shook her head. "Why would you do that?"

"So that no Slytherin will say that they saw Harry Potter in Hogsmeade." Understanding dawned on Padma's face then she suddenly frowned.

"So all they'll see is someone obviously disguised walking around with all Harry Potter's friends? I think they might work it out Harry."

"These are Slytherins we're talking about." Harry said, paying for the merchandise. "Don't expect great mental feats of them, you'll just be disappointed."

Harry found that he was enjoying the day despite himself. He had only jumped a few minor times and he did like the town (having not really had a chance to see it on the last visit).

"Just about time for the Three broomsticks before we head back." Parvati said cheerily as they walked down a backstreet, away from the main concourse. "We all need some butterbeer!"

"You'll love butterbeer Harry." Neville said to the disguised Harry. "It's all warm and smooth and… and…."

"Buttery?" Harry wheedled, grinning.

"Well yeah."

"I don't know. A drink based on a fat spread doesn't exactly sound appetizing." Harry grinned to show that he was joking. "Or healthy!"

"It's alright Harry." Hermione said laughing. "My parents went mad when they heard about it but it turns out its actually pretty good for you. It contains antioxidants."

"Anti-oxygen…" Ron's brow furrowed. "That sounds bad for you."

"Honestly Ron it just means…"

Harry rolled his eyes as Hermione started into an explanation. Ron's eyes glazed over after about the third word.

"I really like this place." Harry said over the explanation. "I'll have to find some way to come here more often."

"It's not all nice." Padma commented. "There's broken glass here."

Harry looked down. There was broken glass, he looked around and saw that it had come from the upstairs window of a nearby house.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, perhaps some latent talent as a seer or perhaps some effect of the torrent but right at that moment Harry felt his stomach lurch. There was something terrible behind that broken window.

"Wait here." Harry said quietly. The marauders heard his tone and fell silent. Harry slipped in through the garden gate and felt the stones of the wall. Rough, like Hogwarts. Harry gripped the blocks with his fingers and clambered slowly up to the window. He pushed aside the heavy curtains but inside the room was empty. A dim storeroom piled with boxes with the door open onto the well lit corridor behind.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and began to climb down. When he was about halfway he heard a sound from inside the house. He stopped, his fingers gripping the rock tight. There it was again. Harry scrambled back up and thrust his head back through the window.

Harry just had time to see yellow teeth streaked with grime and smell rancid breath before he was thrown backwards off the wall. He landed with a thud in the garden and looked up in time to see a disheveled man, covered in dirt and dressed in spoilt rags leap from the window with something clutched in his hands. Harry rolled out of his way and the man hit the ground running, panting like a dog as he dashed out through the gate and down the street.

"Stop!" Harry looked up and saw a wizard leaning out of the window franticly sending bolts of red light after the fleeing figure. "Stop him! He took my son!"

Harry jolted himself off the ground and vaulted the wall after the fleeing man. He could hear the marauders trying to keep pace behind him.

"Parvati! Go to Hogwarts! Go and tell them what's happened!" Harry felt his words carried away by the wind and had no idea whether he was being heard. "Neville! Go warn the village! Get help! Or brooms!"

They had reached the end of the short road now and hit the field beyond. Harry jumped the fence and fought his way through the heather after the distant figure. Their quarry had made it easier for them by flattening a path but it was still heavy going. They were not gaining on the man. Not by a long shot.

"We're… can't…" Hermione panted. "We're… not…"

"Whatever it is, we _are_!" Harry yelled back as they crested a little hill. "Try to hit him!"

Harry aimed and shot a bludgeoning hex at the man, now little more than a smudge of black on the distant purple heather. The smudge dodged and shot sideways behind a large rock before the other marauders spells could connect.

"Harry what are you doing!" Hermione screeched angrily. "A bludgeoning hex? It's carrying a baby!"

Harry cursed and began running forwards again. He should have known that! Harry felt like he was passing acid through his lungs instead of air by the time they reached the rock. The panting and gasping he heard behind him told him the marauders were in even poorer shape. Worse, the figure was nowhere in sight and there was no clear trail to follow.

Ignoring the pain in every muscle Harry pulled himself to the top of the boulder and looked around. From here he could see the dark shape of the forbidden forest spreading out to the south. A wall, like the wall of Hogwarts, sealed it off from the rest of the world. Harry squinted through his glasses and just made out a dark shape silhouette against the brighter wall before it disappeared. Harry tore off the mask to get a better look but there was nothing more, just blank wall.

"He's gone into the forest." Harry called down, trying not to take his eyes off the place where the man had disappeared. "Let's go." Harry slid off the rock and landed beside Ron, Hermione and Padma.

"Harry are we really going to follow it into the forbidden forest?" Padma was clutching her stomach and wheezing. "We should mark where it went and wait for help."

"He's going to have as much trouble with the forest as we are." Harry argued. "We can still catch him!"

"But Harry it's a werewolf!"

Harry was jolted back by her words. Of course it was a werewolf and not just some unwashed kidnapper. And it had gone straight back to its home. Harry shook his head, once again he wasn't thinking straight.

"When's the next full moon?" Harry asked quickly. "When is it?"

"Tonight." Hermione answered, pained and breathless, but also resigned.

Harry shook his head.

"Then we can't wait for help. We have to find them before nightfall or that little kid is going to get one hell of a lovebite. We can't wait for help, its us or no one." Harry looked back at the marauders and saw them shimmer and fade.

NO!

He hand clenched around his pendent and he squeezed his eyes shut. He did not have time for this! When he opened his eyes again his friends looked solid, but confused.

"Harry you alright?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine." Harry forced himself to stop gripping the little shell.

"Are you sure Harry?" Padma added. "You sort of… blurred."

"Fine, fine. Lets go." Harry started off at a run towards the forest again and heard the others follow.

In Harry's head he could hear the words _'We can't wait for help. Its us or no one'_ repeating over and over like a talisman against the terror rising inside him. That terror itself had its own voice saying _'We are following it into its forest where it knows its way around and we don't and you can't even stay in your own time for five minutes. And that's not even mentioning the centaurs…'_. Harry was forced to admit that that voice as well was right. What they were doing was stupid and dangerous. But as the first voice said, there was no one else.

As Harry neared the wall a third little voice piped up. Spiteful, sarcastic and whiney but, like the other two voices, essentially right.

"Why me." Harry thought. "Why is it always me."

They reached the wall and Harry instantly saw how the werewolf had gotten over. A huge tree had fallen over the wall, crushing the top part of it and resting on the remaining meters of cracked stonework. Everywhere else the wall was at least two storeys tall of blank grey stone. Unscalable.

"The tree…" Hermione had caught up to him but her and the other two marauders were still very winded. "Must have weakened the wards."

Again Harry felt like a fool. Obviously it would be warded. His brain seemed to be in a fuzz. Harry grabbed some of the lower branches of the tree and pulled himself up.

"Are we…" Hermione began again but Harry cut her off.

"Look, I know this is crazy but there's no one else here to help. I'm not leaving now. Any of you who don't want to follow me go back and tell them where the hole in the wards is." Harry pulled himself on to the tree trunk and looked down at his friends. "Anyone else shut up and get in the tree."

Harry began climbing along the trunk and felt it shake as someone else began to climb. When Harry reached the other end he climbed down by the roots and dropped onto the mulch of the forest floor. He turned and looked up at the tree, a moment later Padma pushed her way through the branches. Harry waited a moment more but no one came. Harry felt a lump form in his throat, first Pythea abandoned him then them.

"Did they…" Harry began but was cut off as Ron and Hermione pushed their way in through the branches.

"We were marking the spot." Hermione said upon seeing Harry's face. "If we're going to do this we should do it right and give ourselves a chance of getting out alive."

"We weren't gonna let you do this alone mate." Ron scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "And after all we've been in worse scrapes than this."

"Did you think any of us wanted to see a kid turned into a werewolf?" Padma added to cut him off with a shake of her head and began to climb down. Harry helped her down the last few feet then moved to do the same for the others.

"Just one thing Harry." Hermione said once they were all down. "How are we supposed to know which way it went?"

Harry's face fell and he looked around for some obvious sign. There was nothing, now that they were in the forest the werewolf knew how to cover his tracks better.

"Spread out and look. Don't go too far." Harry said and the marauders obediently fanned out. Harry was about to join them when his mind fixed on a crazy idea.

He had been able to hold the torrent at bay a few times. Could he force it to come to him?

Harry undid the front of his shirt and looked down at his unblemished chest. He splayed one hand across where he knew the wound would appear and clenched the other around his pendent.

"About five minutes ago." Harry thought as he gritted his teeth down hard. "That's where I need to be."

Harry forced everything he was into that one thought. For a moment he felt blood well on his chest but it was gone a moment later.

"Harder!" He thought desperately. His fingers were slick on his chest but it wasn't blood, it was sweat. "Come on!"

Harry saw his friends fade in front of him. Ron turned back towards him and yelled in surprise. But the sound was like a distant whisper and Harry gripped his bloody chest tighter. He could still hear his friends as ghosts on the wind but couldn't see them anymore.

He was swaying with the effort and fell to his knees on the forest floor. The leaves that were kicked up by his motion only swirled in the air for a moment before fading as he pushed himself further back.

Then, just for a moment, a shadowy figure dropped out of the air above Harry and scampered away into the trees with something held in its gnarled hands. Perhaps it was his imagination, but Harry thought he could hear a baby's scream.

Harry let go with both hands and collapsed into the leaves. A moment later he felt hands pulling him up. As his head was tilted back for him Harry saw his friends shocked faces.

"What the hell was that Harry?" Ron asked fearfully. "You just disappeared! We couldn't find you anywhere!"

"You can't have Apparated." Hermione sounded just as scared. "You aren't old…"

"That way!" Harry cut her off and raised a shaky finger. "Went that way." Harry grabbed Ron's shoulder and managed to force himself to his feet. "We need to hurry."

"No Harry!" Hermione crossed her arms. "You need to tell us what you just did!"

"Hermione now is not…"

"It _is_ the time. You just faded out of existence then returned with your hand covered in blood." Harry looked down, his hand was bloody. This was the first time any sign of the torrent had remained after he returned to his own time. Hermione continued… "We deserve an explanation, is this to do with why you've been poorly for weeks?"

"Yes." Harry gulped in some air and nodded. "And I promise I will tell you later but just now we don't have time. _Please_ Hermione, it already has too much of a head start on us."

Hermione still looked stubborn but Padma took the situation out of her hands.

"Well I'm not waiting around." The twin turned and began to walk off in the direction Harry had pointed. Harry grinned and staggered after her. A moment later he felt Ron catch him and put an arm around his shoulder to steady him

"You're in really bad shape mate." He commented.

"Tell me about it." Harry quipped to his taller friend as they stumbled forward. "I'd like to end just one year without ending up a wreck of one kind or another." Harry turned back and saw Hermione following and smiled.

They walked in silence for a while. Padma spotted a set of footprints on the ground that told them they were still going in the right direction. It looked as if the werewolf was following a sort of deer trail through the forest. After ten minutes or so Harry was able to walk unaided again but he was still glad they had found the trail. He really didn't want to have to drop himself into the torrent again.

"Shush…" Harry waved the others to silence. "Do you guys hear that?" Faint voices drifted between the trees before them. Angry voices and one high pitched cry.

Harry dropped to a crouch and went forward as quietly as he could. He couldn't hear the marauders following but he knew they were. The voices got louder as they approached a shaded dell in the woods.

"Piece of dirt!" A loud smacking sound filtered up from the dell. Followed by a thump like a body hitting the floor. Through it all Harry could hear a baby crying. "Why did you have to screw it up!"

Harry crawled to the edge of the dell and poked his pushed a hole through some tufts of grass to see down. The werewolf they had chased was cowering on the floor in front of a huge bear like man. A huge bear like werewolf, Harry amended as he saw the sharp brown teeth and yellow eyes staring balefully out of its head. Now that he could get a clear look at them Harry could see that they were both wearing the same mud and dirt encrusted rags, their original color and cut lost completely beneath the grime. Their hair and hands were caked in mud as well, as were their unshod feet.

"You bastard Verrine!" The larger man growled as he picked the wiry werewolf off the floor and shook him.

Harry could see the baby lying abandoned on the ground nearby. He could feel the marauders getting in position beside him. Making their own viewing holes.

"Why now!" The man continued to rant. "Why do it now! When we're so close to getting the mother-load you go out and swipe _one child!_ They'll be on the lookout for us now!"

"But Greyback." The smaller man (who seemed to be called Verrine) whined. "This was what you told us all to do. What you taught us. Get the children so we can turn them. When I found the gap in the wards I had to chance it. I thought you'd be happy."

"Happy? _Happy!?_" The burly werewolf threw the other to the ground and kicked him in the stomach. "You moron! We've been working for months and you screw it up in a day!"

"But… but…" Verrine wrung his hands. "They still don't know about it! We can still go through with it!"

"We'll have to you runt! I haven't worked this hard to stop now." Greyback aimed another savage kick at the man on the floor and Harry slid back a little from the dell. Harry figured the crying baby was cover enough to speak without being heard and whispered…

"Any ideas?"

"We can't sneak by them." Hermione said under her breath. "Maybe if we levitate the baby…"

"They'll see that." Harry shook his head. "They'll see anything inside the clearing. We need to take them out."

"Two full grown werewolves?" Padma shook her head. "We'll need a plan."

"Will we?" Ron asked, glancing back at the grass between them and the creatures. "I mean there are four of us and two of them. Why don't we just jump them?"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Of all the stupid…"

"Brilliant!" Harry interrupted. "He's right!" Padma and Hermione looked shocked. Surprisingly so did Ron.

"We've got so used to being the underdogs we didn't see it. There are more of us, we have wands and we have the element of surprise. Hermione, Padma…" Harry pointed back at the clearing . "… you aim for the big guy. Me and Ron will aim for the smaller one."

"What are we firing?" Padma asked.

"Anything disabling, and aim high. We don't want to hit the baby." Harry crawled back to the edge of the dell. "On three. One… Two… THREE!"

Harry raised to his knees and aimed his wand at the startled werewolves. Hermione had fired a full-body-bind that froze Greyback in his tracks before Padma's blasting curse threw him to the ground. Harry had stuck by the reliable bludgeoning hex. He didn't hear what Ron cast but whatever it was combined with his own attack threw the scrawny werewolf clear across the clearing and smacked him into a rock.

Harry rushed into the dell. He followed Hermione's example and petrified Verrine from close range as he tried to get to his feet. The werewolf's limbs smacked to his sides and he toppled like a tree. Harry turned back and saw that Padma had already reached the crying bundle on the floor and was picking him up.

"Is he alright?" Harry asked worriedly.

"I have no idea." Padma admitted. "Since he's been dragged through the woods with only a blanket to protect him, I'm guessing he's a little cranky. Good thing it's a warm day."

"Harry…" Ron was standing over the big werewolf with his wand still out. "… should we… you know… do something permanent to them? Stop them?"

"You mean kill them." Hermione said flatly. "In cold blood. While they're petrified."

"Hermione's right." Harry shook his head. In his short life he had already killed two people (Tom Riddle didn't count). But both times it had been to save his life or the life of his friends. "We can't. Maybe we should, but we can't."

"They'll kill other people Harry." Ron said hesitantly. "They'll turn other people. They're animals."

"Fine then. Do it." Harry pointed at the immobile men on the floor. "Finish them."

Ron's eyes widened in shock. He raised his wand and pointed it at the big werewolf on the floor. For a moment he stood there, indecision clear on his face, then he dropped his arm to his side again.

"See. Not so easy." Harry turned and began walking back the way they had come. "Come on guys. That was enough moral for today's story."

The marauders were about to follow him when…

"Harry…" Ron said worriedly. "Isn't it a bit… dark?"

Harry felt the cold sweat of terror again. The last of the sunset was just visible over the trees and the shadows were at their longest.

Not long before nightfall. Not long before the moon.

"Oh god..." Harry said, wide eyed. "RUN!"

Harry dared a glance back through the woods as he pelted as fast as he could down the track they had come up on. It was full dark now, and the moon rode over the trees.

"Wah! Wah!"

"Can't you shut that brat up!" Ron yelled at Padma, who shot him a deadly glare.

"Bring him here." Harry slowed down and pointed his wand at the squalling baby. "_Silencio!_" The baby's mouth still worked but no sound came out. Harry breathed easier for a moment, then he heard a howl go up from the trees behind them.

"Run!" The marauders were jolted into motion again. "Hermione go ahead! Keep Padma and the brat in the middle!"

Harry looked back over his shoulder and saw a shape hurtling down the path towards them.

Not a time to pull punches.

"_Acerbus Cuspis!_"

The sickly light enveloped the snaring thing and it's momentum rolled it into a heap at Harry feet. He petrified it for good measure. Harry turned and sprinted to catch up with the rest of the marauders.

"How… close…" Ron panted. "… tree."

"Further." Was all Harry managed to gasp out. A growl behind him was all the warning he got and he threw himself on Ron, knocking them both to the ground as a werewolf pounced over their head.

"_Ferio!_" Harry yelled from the floor, but his hex missed and smacked into a bush. The wolf snarled and lifted itself to its feet before getting hit from behind by Hermione and being slammed into the ground. Harry pulled himself and Ron off the floor and began running forward again.

"There it is!" Harry heard Padma yell from far ahead. Harry squinted and realized he could make out the dim shape of the wall in front of them. Another howl went up behind them and was picked up by another voice and another and another, stretching across the forest.

"Come on come on!" Harry skidded to a stop by the bottom of the fallen tree and scanned the darkened forest. Movement? Harry fired another curse into the darkness but it hit nothing. "Hurry up!" Harry helped Ron into the tree then scrambled up behind him. He heard a snarl behind him and whirled, aiming his wand at the sound.

"_Acerbus cuspis!_"

The light brightened the clearing like a firework but the werewolf dodged it. Harry slipped and fell onto the leaf mulch. The wolf pounced at him but was hit in the air by three spells from above and fell hard. Harry scrambled back into the tree and ran as hard as he could for the safety of the outside. He dropped onto the ground outside and stumbled a few steps to where the marauders were standing. He saw Hermione point back at the wall and yell.

"Harry!"

A werewolf was clambering along the tree, its long slavering tongue glistening in the moonlight.

"_Depulso!_" Harry banished the werewolf and saw it sail back over the wall.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Harry heard Hermione yell and saw the tree rock on its rubble cradle. "Help me!"

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the tree.

"_Wingardium…_" Ron began but Harry cut him off.

"No! You two stop any more of them getting over!"

Harry concentrated on the tree, trying to shake it free of its trestle. Another dark form jumped onto the trunk and Padma blasted it off. Two more jumped on and Harry forced himself to concentrate only on the tree and trust his friends to deal with the werewolves.

Suddenly, with a shuddering crack, the tree came free of the wall and jumped a few meters into the air. Shaking its passengers off in the process. At Hermione's urging they pulled the tree forwards and dumped it on the ground nearby. Harry yelped in surprise as they saw a werewolf scrabble over the damaged wall, its curse giving it strength beyond any natural animal.

"No!" Hermione said as Harry raised his wand. "I want to see if its worked."

Harry kept his wand trained on the thing but didn't cast anything. The dark shape squatted on the top of the wall for a moment then bunched up and leapt at them. There was a great flash of light and it was repulsed, thrown back into the forest with a yelp of pain.

"Hermione? What the bloody hell…" Ron asked.

"The wards. The tree was disrupting them." Hermione brushed her hair off her sweat-dripping forehead. "They should be back now."

"Hermione…" Harry didn't finish the sentence, he just stepped forward and hugged the startled girl fiercely. "Keep being smart ok. God knows one of us has to be." Harry released her and looked back at the wall. Three werewolves sat there now but they made no move to come any closer. Perhaps they had retained just enough of their human brains to learn a lesson. Harry gave them the finger then turned back to his friends.

"We should go." Harry lit his wand and waved the marauders back towards Hogsmeade. "I may be wrong. But I think we're past curfew."


	22. Torrent of Ages: 7

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 7: A moment of coincidence.

Hogsmeade looked a lot more menacing at night. Perhaps it was the way the old houses seemed to lean out over the street. Perhaps it was the eerie lack of noise or that light smell you get at the beginning of night.

Or perhaps it was that the professors that had eventually found them were McGonagall and Snape.

When the marauders had wandered back into the village they had had the (then sleeping) baby taken off their hands rather swiftly and been hurried back up the road towards Hogwarts.

"Of all the irresponsible, foolishness and idiocy you lot have got yourselves into!" McGonagall raged as they walked back along the road. Snape was uncharacteristically silent but he glowered at them with his bloodshot eyes. All of them except Harry, who's eyes he didn't seem to want to meet.

"I hope all of you are proud of yourselves!" McGonagall continued as they passed the gates of Hogwarts.

"'Oh, thank you for saving the baby.'" Harry muttered under his breath. "'Without you kids he would have suffered a fate worse than death. You're _heroes_ .'" But the teachers didn't seem to hear him (which was perhaps for the best).

They walked in silence up the long path towards Hogwarts but McGonagall surprised them by not taking them inside. Instead she led them round to the left towards the greenhouses. Harry could see the shimmering line of the wards, easily visible in the dim light.

Harry then saw who they were heading for. Dumbledore was standing on a patch of scuffed ground near the edge of the greenhouses staring out towards the forbidden forest. Occasionally he would take a few steps and glance at a particular place in the wards. He also kept glancing at a ragged piece of parchment he held in his hand. As they approached he folded it calmly and slipped it into his robes.

With a frown Harry realized it was the same piece of parchment he's seen Lupin and Dumbledore pawing over in a flashback. What did it do? Harry tried to think back, it had been a map of Hogwarts and they had been keeping watch on him with it. Did it somehow show what he was doing?

"Mr Potter." The Headmaster had turned to look at him. He did not look pleased. "So you return to us again."

"Yeah, like a bloody boomerang." Was what Harry wanted to say but he wisely replaced it with "Yes Sir."

"And can you tell me why you think you have the right to shamelessly ignore school rules and flaunt the protections set up specifically to protect the students of this school?"

"We saved a baby." Harry said through gritted teeth. "Doesn't that count for something?"

"Mr Potter this is not a matter of results it is a matter of intentions." Dumbledore said, staring at him over the rims of his spectacles. "Do you expect me to continually overlook your flagrant rule breaking simply because it coincidentally causes some good?"

"We _coincidentally_ saved a baby!" Harry argued. He heard Hermione trying to shush him and pulled back a little. "There was nothing else we could do. No one else was there to help."

"Why were you in Hogsmeade in the first place?"

"Testing how well that little scrap of paper in your pocket works." It was a shot in the dark but Harry saw the look of shock cross Dumbledore's face before he steadied himself again. Harry noticed that both Snape and McGonagall looked confused. Was Lupin the only teacher who knew?

"I do not know of what you speak Mr Potter." Dumbleore said lightly.

"The map of Hogwarts." Harry spoke slowly and carefully. Taking an evil glee in seeing every word bring further shock to the old man's face. "The one you and Lupin have been using to watch me. Watch everything I do. You sit up at night, with a mug of coco and a marshmallow and watch me."

The silence between the young wizard and the old one was almost palatable. Harry broke it first.

"Why didn't you use it to find the kid? Or Ginny at the end of last year?" Harry stared Dumbledore down. He felt a gentle prod on the back of his brain. "And don't even think about Legilimensing me. Honestly, and _you_ talk to _me_ about breaking rules?" The prod receded and Dumbledore looked down at his feet.

"I could not use it to find the child because it does not extend beyond the borders of Hogwarts." Dumbledore said slowly. His voice oddly shamed. "And I could not use it to find Miss Weasley because neither the chamber, nor the passage leading to it, nor the sewers under Hogwarts are displayed on it. It's makers never ventured into them."

A silence fell again. Neither party seemed to have anything to add to the conversation.

"The werewolves said they had a plan to get into Hogwarts tonight." Ron blurted out in a rush. Everyone looked at him and he blushed to the roots of his hair. "Well they have to know." He defended to Harry.

"I know Ron." Harry turned back to the Headmaster. "He's right, they did say that."

"Harry they are unlikely to do anything now that we have been roused."

"No, they are." Harry shook his head. "They specifically said they were going through with it anyway."

"Perhaps." Dumbledore conceded. "But in a thousand years the werewolves have never breached the wards around the edge of the forest."

"But _I_ breached them earlier this year!"

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded. "By swimming out into the lake past their boundaries."

"Well couldn't the werewolves do that?"

"Harry…" Dumbledore seemed to regain some of his old humour. "To you the giant squid is merely a playful lake creature. But it in fact one of the most ancient guardians of Hogwarts. If any dark creature attempted to reach Hogwarts through the lake, trust me Harry, they would not get far."

"And what…" Harry swallowed nervously. "… what if all this is connected to… you know… Voldemort?"

"My information tells me that Voldemort is in hiding in Albania." Dumbledore explained. "As he has been since you evicted him from the body of professor Quirrel."

"Oh…" Harry felt anger ebbing out of him, leaving a sort of hollow. "… good."

"Now…" Professor Dumbledore raised both his palms, facing out. A calming gesture. "… we will continue this discussion, and discussion of any punishment incurred, in the morning. Please return to your common room, Severus will accompany you. Minerva, would you help me check over the wards one final time before we all retire?" The two old teachers moved off, leaving the marauders with only Snape for company.

"Come on." Snape's voice sounded horse and Harry realized that this was the first time he had spoken during the entire exchange.

The marauders followed him in silence up to the fat lady's portrait and spoke the password. Snape didn't even say anything to them then, he just stalked off with his head bowed down into his neck.

Harry shook his head. Every time he saw Snape like that it reminded him of what he'd done to him.

Harry walked into the Gryffindor common room.

"You're alive!" Harry heard someone yell.

"Wait." Harry closed his eyes and held out his hands for silence. "Did I just come back from a Hogsmeade weekend that ended with us chasing a werewolf into the forbidden forest?"

"Um… yes?"

"Oh good." It had just been normal déjà vu, not the time travel kind. Harry opened his eyes and walked over to sit at the marauders table with Ginny, Neville and Parvati who had been waiting for them. The other marauders sat down too. It was the middle of the night but somehow everyone knew they couldn't go to sleep yet. The four who had come from the forest hastily outlined what had happened to their friends.

"What am I missing?" Harry murmured, tilting himself back on his chair. "How else could they get into the grounds?"

"If they hired some curse breakers somehow…" Neville's voice trailed off as they all contemplated the possibility of penniless forest monsters hiring the services of skilled wizards and of the skilled wizard working for them willingly _and_ of the werewolves retaining enough self control after transforming to not eat them.

"Unlikely." Harry decided and closed his eyes. God he was tired.

"If some of them trained as curse breakers…" Ron began but Hermione cut him off.

"Then they'd forget everything once they transformed."

Harry massaged his temples with his fingers and felt the grit on them, they were still all mucky from the forest.

"Could they somehow distract the giant squid?" Ginny asked looking tired as well. No one answered her. No one had any answers. But Harry was willing to swear that whatever it was was right in front of his face.

"Can werewolves even swim?" Ron asked and Harry groaned. They weren't getting anywhere. Not a surprise really. Harry looked over his troops, Ginny was virtually asleep on her chair ("We keep forgetting she's not as used to this as us." Thought Harry.) Hermione looked almost ready to faint, the stress of all the classes this year on top of the day they'd all had was just too much. Neville and Parvarti were fine but himself and Ron? Ha! Harry laughed to himself. Both him and Ron, and to a lesser extent Padma and Hermione, looked like they'd rolled in the dirt all night. Which, Harry admitted, they had.

Harry looked at his dirt encrusted hand. There was something there. Something just out of reach.

"Guy's…" The marauder's heads snapped to him. "… look at my hand. There's something we're missing and it's here."

"Harry you're imagining things." Hermione sounded like she was barely remaining conscious. "I know, I keep thinking I've thought of something too."

"No, no there is something." Harry shook his head. His hand, what was there?

"Harry you look faint mate." Ron's voice, but Harry wasn't listening.

His hand, beaten and scratched. One fingernail broken a little from a fall. Dirt under his fingernails. Dirt everywhere on his hand. Dirt everywhere on _their_ hands…

Harry stood bolt upright and scrambled for the door.

"_They were covered in dirt!_" He yelled, a bit hysterically. "Why didn't I see it before!"

"See what Harry?" Hermione asked. The marauders were staring at him.

"They were _too_ dirty. Don't you see!" Harry motioned them to get a move on out of their chairs but they didn't budge. Harry threw up his hands in exasperation. "You don't get that dirty just running around a forest. And it was the wrong type of dirt too… loamy… dark. Under their fingernails and in their teeth!" The marauders still looked on in bleak incomprehension.

"Don't you see what they're doing! Dogs behind a fence!" Harry saw understanding dawn in one or two sets of eyes. "They're digging a bloody tunnel!"

"Neville: McGonagall! Ron: Dumbledore! Padma: Snape!" Harry rattled off as they raced out the portrait hole. Harry cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled. "MYRTLE! Sweet marauder house ghost! Get here NOW!"

"Harry?" The glowing girl slid out of the stonework and flew alongside him as he pelted down the corridor. "What is it?"

"Werewolves, tunneling into the school." Harry saw the ghosts already white face turn whiter and her eyes bulge. "Is must come up somewhere on this side of the wards. Go under…"

"Go underground and find it." Myrtle finished for him. She sounded absolutely terrified. Her smoky form was ever quavering in the air. But she swooped off in the direction of the greenhouses, her lank hair whipping in the wind behind her.

"Wonderful." Harry thought as he shot down a staircase. "At least one of the marauders has her head on straight."

Harry barged through a side door and the night air hit him like a wall. He breathed it in, welcoming the cold into him because it would help wake him up.

"_Lumos!_" Hermione had lit her wand. Smart that one. Harry followed suit and soon the four marauders were scowering the grounds. Harry glanced over them, had he chosen wrongly? He'd sent the tired marauders to find the teachers and kept the relatively refreshed ones with him. Except for Hermione of course, who he'd kept because he relied on her to be the brains of the operation. But was she alert enough to do that now? Harry cursed as he realized his choice also meant he had put the youngest member, Ginny, in harms way.

Harry shook his head, nothing to be done about it now. Harry saw Myrtle arc out of the ground like a dolphin, raise her hands as if to say '_I'm going as fast as I can'_, then dip back underground.

"Where would they be?" Harry peered at the tree line, trying to catch some hint of movement. Nothing. "Damn it!" Where would they tunnel up to? Would they even be able to aim at a specific place when underground? The world blurred around Harry and he clamped his hands over his pendent.

Back! Not now! The wound on his left chest was beginning to hurt now, and was streaking his shirt with blood. I need to be here!

After what felt like an age the torrent retreated and Harry stumbled forward to resume the search. Suddenly Harry heard a ghostly squeal and saw Myrtle catapult out of the ground.

"There! There!" Myrtle was panicked and shaking, pointing back down at the ground.

Harry followed the line of her hand, it was the piece of scuffed turf they had stood on earlier that evening during their discussion with Dumbledore. With some trepidation Harry got closer and stopped to listen. From under the ground came the unmistakable sound of scrabbling claws.

"Oh no no no no no." Harry shook his head to try and dispel the icy grip of fear and looked back at the castle. No teachers yet, the marauders must have been having trouble convincing them. Harry looked back at the ground, they would break through any minute. "_Colloportus._" He tried, desperately, aiming at the ground. But nothing happened, the spell wasn't meant to be used that way.

"Guys! Get back!" Harry waved the marauders away. "Get behind stuff, we'll need to keep them back if they break through." Harry looked around, panicked. Was there something they could cover the ground with? No.

"Myrtle!" Harry looked up at the quivering ghost. "I don't want to ask this but… can you go down there? Distract them. Try to keep them from digging up."

The ghost shook her head vigorously, her eyes wide behind her goggle-like glasses.

"Please Myrtle!" Harry begged. "I can't think of anything else!"

The ghost began crying and hugged her arms into herself but she slowly floated down and slid into the ground. After a moment the scrabbling stopped and a growling and yelping filtered up through the earth. Harry glanced around desperately, that had bought him seconds at most. His eyes lighted on a pile of plant cuttings in a wooden bin beside the greenhouses. Yes!

"Help me guys! _Wingardium Leviosa!_" Harry pointed his wand at the bin. It rocked on its base and Harry heard his friends add their voices to his. Glancing fearfully at the bulging ground Harry maneuvered the bin onto the ground and dropped it with a crunch.

"_Incendio!_" The bin burst into flame. Harry sent a few bludgeoning hex's at the sides of the thing and it collapsed into a bonfire. Harry saw the other marauders levitating branches onto it from where they hid near the greenhouses.

"Well, that won't stop them from digging up." Harry thought, scraping sweat off his brow. "But it'll give them a surprise when they do."

Suddenly the bonfire sagged in the middle. Harry looked around and realized he should probably be behind something. He turned and dashed towards the doors of Hogwarts. Behind him he heard a howl of inhuman pain and a dry crash as the bonfire caved in on itself. More howls of pain, filling the air with dark fear. Harry glanced over his shoulder at the fire.

A burning werewolf, howling in searing pain, burst up through the ground like an ancient god, feral and powerful. It clawed its way onto the grass and set off like a bullet towards him. Harry was so scared he tripped and was sent sprawling across the ground. He rolled and tried to aim a hex at it but he was shaking so much it missed by a mile. Harry could see another werewolf erupt out of the ground and charge the marauders but all his attention was focused on the one in front of him. The one that was going to kill him. He shot again but it barely grazed its side. It lunged, and Harry felt its feted breath.

"_Sectumsempra!_"

The wolf's neck exploded in a bloody fountain but its momentum carried it onto Harry, crushing him under its. Harry could feel his ribs crack and smell its putrid stench but then it was lifted off him and tossed aside. Harry looked up and saw Snape framed in the doorway, a look of murder in his eyes.

"_Stupefy!_" The potions master yelled and a red spell shot across the ground and the werewolf that had been chasing the marauders fell limp onto the ground. Harry heard a scrabbling sound and saw another just clawing its way out of the hole in the ground. Snape said no incantation this time but it's head snapped back as if it had been shot and it slid back into the hole. Three more scrambled out, slavering and growling to take its place.

"_Ferio!_" Harry yelled, and the one he had been aiming at jerked back. "_Confringo!_" The blasting curse threw it back into the hole.

"Leave them to me Potter." Harry heard Snape growl. "Go help your friends." Snape curled his arm back and yelled something guttural before throwing a ball of red light down into the hole in the ground. Harry was knocked off his feet as an earthquake rocked the earth and a great cloud of dust poured up from the pit. Snape had collapsed the tunnel. She potions master smiled evilly, the smoke and dust giving him an almost demonic visage as he turned and began throwing curses at the remaining two werewolves.

Harry ran towards the marauders and skidded to a stop in front of them. They looked tired and scared and Hermione was leaning on Parvati and not putting weight on her left foot, but for having just battled werewolves they looked alright.

"Snape's beginning to grow on me." Harry grinned. The marauders smiled, then Hermione seemed to realize something and put her hand to her neck in horror.

"No!"

A moment of coincidence can change everything.

Only someone floating above the scene could have seen the whole thing.

Hermione pointing to something sparkling on the ground. Pushing herself off her friend and hopping towards it frantically. Tripping…

Harry turning and stepping over to pick it up, holding its golden chain clenched in his fist.

Snape throwing curses at the last werewolf, laughing as it scrabbled backwards, trying to get away from him. Snape throwing another curse but, in his glee, missing. The curse flying through the air, rippling it like a heat wave. Shooting straight into the sparkling golden hourglass handing from Harry's hand.

The sound of shattering class. Far louder than it had any right to be.

The spray of silver sand, fanning out and covering the right side of Harry chest, burning through his shirt and eating away the flesh underneath.

Each grain of sand making a little pockmarked hole, like drops of acid.

Snape looking on in horror, wand still outstretched.

Harry screaming. Screaming and falling to the floor, clawing at the bloody mess of his chest. Screaming like he'd had his heart cut out.

Then slowly, fading. Fading as his scream grew softer and softer. Until it was nothing more than a breath of wind.

Then gone.


	23. Torrent of Ages: 8

Harry Potter and the Torrent of Ages Chapter 8: Paradox Scars

_Pain, everywhere, burning. Flickering too fast to see anything but his damaged body beneath him. Roaring, he could hear the river here, louder than ever before. Nothing made sense, nothing was real but the pain._

"Severus… Severus are you asleep?"

Snape slowly raised his head from his hands and looked up at Madam Pomfrey. Had he fallen asleep? There were times when his thought had curled round each other enough to seem like dreams. But no, he mustn't have. Surely he would have dreamt of her.

Snape could feel the locket in the top pocket of his robes. He had carried it with him since he had got it. A constant drain on his will. Walking around, every day, trying to follow his routine with a venomous cocktail of grief and heart clenching regret. But he couldn't leave it, every time he tried he just felt his fingers close around it tighter.

And now he had guilt to add to the mix. Guilt he richly deserved. He had killed him, killed the last part of Lily Evans left on this earth. He deserved everything, he clenched his fists until he could feel his nails digging into skin. It meant nothing.

"Severus some people are here." The school nurse spoke softly, as if he were a dying patient. Which, Snape conceded, he looked like right now. He wearily dragged himself to his feet and moved out from behind the curtains surrounding his bed.

The hospital wing was full but silent. Snape looked over at the bed where the Granger girl was lying. Her foot healed of course but no one had asked her to leave. Potter's other friends were there too, in chairs, propped on nearby beds or, in the case of Longbottom, simply collapsed on the floor. Snape could sympathize right now.

On the other side the werewolves were chained, the two that had survived his attack and transformed back with the light of day. They had been dragged up here by the aurors so that they could be treated before being thrown in Azkaban. No trial would be had. None was necessary. They neither had the right to one nor deserved that right. Snape felt no grief for the ones that had been carted away to be burned or for the many that had undoubtedly died when he collapsed the tunnel. Any vestige of humanity they had they had given up when they agreed to follow Greyback.

A sliver of a thought wormed its way into Snape's brain. Why hadn't Greyback been present at the attack? The children claimed to have petrified him but that would barely have lasted an hour on a werewolf. He should have been there. It would have been gratifying to number him as one of the dead. Then at least Snape could have said something good had come of everything.

"Professor Severus Snape?"

The clipped voice brought him out of his thought and he looked at the two new figures in the wing. Even in his wasting state Snape took in the flat grey robes, the file folder, the slightly arrogant demeanor without any evidence of real power and neatly labeled both of them.

"From the Ministry," Snape said. It wasn't a question. But something was off about them he realized, the woman, her eyes far too appraising under her neat short hair and the man perhaps a shade too relaxed for a bureaucrat dragged out of his office. Not aurors, they didn't have that feel… Oh! "Unspeakables?"

"Correct Professor Snape. Full marks." The woman smiled and raised her eyebrows. Snape sighed inwardly, he hated people under the delusion they were smarter than him. "My name is Natalie Zhao and my colleague is Sean Rhyfedd." She indicated the man with a wave of her hand. Rhyfedd opened his mouth to speak but the woman continued talking and he shut it again.

"We are here to investigate the recent events here." She smiled and pulled a quill and parchment from her folder. "I understand that you have had a trying time but certain questions must be answered."

"I thought the situation was being investigated by them." Snape jerked his head towards the aurors. One of the werewolves on the floor looked up at him and leered.

"You misunderstand Mr Snape." The man spoke for the first time. "The werewolves are indeed being dealt with by the aurors. The situation we were speaking of was the death of Mr Potter."

"Harry!"

Snape heard a curtain being thrown back and a moment later felt himself surrounded by Potter's clique.

"Do know where he is?"

"What happened to him?"

"SILENCE!" Snape snapped, far louder than he intended. They fell silent and he turned back to the Unspeakable. Taking a moment to assess the power structure he addressed the woman directly. "You mean the _disappearance_ of Mr Potter," he said hopefully.

"No." Rhyfedd cut in at the same time as his colleague said.

"I'm afraid not." She waved her wand at an empty bed and nine stools fell around it. "Let's sit down."

Snape heard a chuckle from the other side of the room.

"Something to add, werewolf?" Rhyfedd said angrily.

"Lost your hero." The werewolf chuckled insanely as he stared out from behind his crusted lids. "Why don't you use the little map?"

The auror kicked the inhuman thing and it fell silent, muttering to itself.

Snape dismissed it and chose a stool next to the wall, at least that way he could not be surrounded by children.

"You are aware that Miss…" Ms Zhao consulted her papers "… Granger, was given special permission to have a time-turner this year?"

"You know that I am." Snape replied acidly. "Unless the thirty page form myself and the other teachers here were asked to fill out was somehow _lost_ in the Ministry's system. In fact that circumstance is not unlikely is it?"

"We take more care in our department," Rhyfedd said. He turned to the children at the table. "Did you notice Mr Potter displaying any odd behavior this year?"

"Odd behavior…" Weasley scratched his head. "Odd behavior is normal for Harry."

"Time loss." The Unspeakable crossed his arms irritably. "Did he sometimes seem to not know when or where he was? Did he seem to know what was about to happen? Did anyone witness him in two places at once?"

"Yes," The younger Weasley answered quietly. "The first two."

"I saw him in two places," Longbottom said wetly. They all sounded as tired as Snape felt. "I was with him in the library and I looked out the window and I saw him on the grass outside too. I just thought it was some sort of joke he was pulling." He sounded like someone had drowned his puppy. Or perhaps a bag of puppies.

"Don't feel bad," Natalie Zhao smiled at the students. "Even if we had known earlier there would have been nothing we could have done. It's an effect we call the torrent of ages."

That sounded familiar, some old story?

"Those lost in the torrent of ages…" he said, trying to remember the passage. "… are lost to time and light. Living in nothing. Trapped in eternity."

_Flickering, even the mountains crawled up and down like waves. The sky just one arching blur of grey. The ground under his feet felt shadowy and unreal._

"Yes that's correct," Ms Zhao nodded, pleased. "You see, a time-turner only works because of the sand inside it. It is literally the sand of time. Usually it is inert but there are ways of drawing out its power. Now, the structure of a time-turner is designed so as to harness that power safely. Moving a person back in time a short way relatively safely."

"_Relatively safely,_" Rhyfedd said, chuckling dryly and shaking his head.

"But…" Zhao continued. "If the sand is loosed from the time-turner after it has been activated and it touches a person. That person gets the full brunt of the sands' power."

"The effect has been known since ancient times." Mr Rhyfedd pulled a bundle of around twenty papers out and spread them out in front of Snape. The all had pictures in the corner. The oldest ones were indecipherable, the newest mostly looked like Unspeakable themselves. "As you can see the recent ones are mostly departmental accidents."

Snape nodded.

"What is this torrent then?" he asked.

"Essentially… time." Ms Zhao shook her head sadly. "Imagine the time-turner effect multiplied by a billion, and totally uncontrollable. The person begins moving through time without ever stopping in any one moment for more than a millisecond."

"Of course we can only guess at the effect…" Rhyfedd said. "… Since no one has ever come back."

"So what are you going to do?" Parvati Patil demanded shrilly. "How do we fix it?"

"Miss…" Zhao met Snape's eyes for a moment then continued. "…Patil."

Snape felt his heart skip about a hundred beats. Had he just been casually Legilimized by a Ministry employee? He found himself forced to swiftly and radically revaluate the woman in front of him. His mental defenses were a little fractured right now it was true, but he would have been happy to face even Dumbledore with no more defense than this. He had grown too soft.

"Miss Patil," The woman continued. "I know this is hard for you, all of you. I know that it is easier to grieve if you have a body, or some sign. But you must understand your friend is not coming back."

"You don't know that!" Ginevra Weasley almost screamed.

"He's stronger than you think," Longbottom said desperately.

"This is not something you can fight," The Unspeakable shook her head. "It's not something real or physical. It's not something tangible, it's something _inevitable_."

_Slipping, ground always slipping. Too much pain to even think. Blood that flowed out of him and disappeared into the air like mist. The sand still burned in him, burning but the blood kept flowing. Burning threads cutting into him from all sides, tying him up. Lying like red hot lances across his skin. He couldn't ignore the pain, it was the one real thing he had._

"Just face it kids." Rhyfedd crossed his arms. "The boy who lived is gone for good."

_Harry kneeled under the flickering sky, a grey aurora burning into his eyes. It was too much, he wasn't sure if he would go mad or just bleed to death. Either seemed preferable. The pain was just throbbing harder, the fiery bonds tightening around him. Invisible bonds. Nothing was real here. Oh god it hurt! Harry threw his head back and howled,_

"Help me!" His words were caught and whisked away as soon as he spoke. "Someone! Help me!" Harry barely felt the sobs wrack his body. "Someone…"

"Harry…"

_Harry felt the pain ebb away, leaving a dull ache. The sky dimmed like smoked glass. The flickering ground became grey and unyielding under his feet. He felt the burning threads pushed off him as the grey space expanded, carrying them with it. He stood on shaky legs inside the little bubble of reality._

"Harry."

_Harry whirled towards the voice and fell to the ground again, this time in relief. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes. He gulped and said,_

"Pythea!"

"Yes Harry." _The little seer was sitting cross legged in the middle of the grey bubble._ "Yes it's me."

_"How…"_

"Or, more correctly it's a bit like a recording of me," _Pythea smiled, her multicolor eyes holding depths Harry couldn't even guess at._ "Like a portrait. I'm a charm cast by the real Pythea. She hid me in the letter she sent you."

_"Why?" Harry shook his head. "Why this way?"_

"It was the only way." _Pythea looked suddenly a little scared but pulled herself back a moment later._ "If the rest of my order knew you were even remotely connected to the torrent…" _She shuddered._ "… well at the very least I would have been unable to help you. The torrent is abhorrent to everything we stand for."

_Abhorrent… that sounded familiar._

"For the same reason the centaurs do? They sa-"

"You met centaurs!" _Pythea stood and hurried towards him, looking over him as if to see some sign of injury._ "How did you survive! They would have killed you…"

_"They let me go." Harry thought back, it seemed like a while ago. "Said they had a debt to me."_

"Do not scare me like that." _Pythea put a hand to her chest and seemed to be breathing hard._ "You were lucky. Very lucky."

_"If I was lucky I wouldn't be caught in this thing." Harry waved his hands at the mess around them. " "'Thea you got to help me."_

"Harry I will not lie to you." _She was right up next to him now, looking down into his eyes._ "To my knowledge no-one has ever survived the torrent of ages."

_Harry closed his eyes and bowed his head. His last hope…_

"Harry, the torrent isn't even something natural." _Pythea held his chin in her hands and pushed his head back up._ "Time-turners are one thing, they let you pass back and forth in the same time stream. Anything you do in the past does not disturb the future, because it has already happened you see? The laws of causality are preserved. The torrent is different, it defies the rules of fate. That is why my order, and the centaurs, hate it so much. They think it is dangerous, tangling destiny. That is why you have been moved outside of time, the universe itself it trying to shut you out. Destroying a threat to itself."

_"So why are you here?" Harry pushed her hands away. He was crying now, he knew he looked pathetic but he couldn't stop himself. "If no one's ever survived why bother even coming!"_

"In the hope that you could be the first." _She glanced up at the faded ceiling. The bubble had shrunk noticeably since they had started talking. Harry could see the threads of fire curling about the edges, like circling sharks._ "I can't hold this much longer."

_"How! How can I be the first?"_

"I don't know. But I know one thing, you are never going to do it sitting on the ground. You will not survive unless you take control."

_"You don't know what it feels like…" Harry began but fell silent. What did it matter how much it hurt? It had to be done. "What do I do if I can get control?"_

"Don't you know?" _She sounded amused._

"I…" A crazy idea hit him. A Harry Potter plan. "Yes. I think I do."

"Good Harry." _She raised her hand towards the grey wall._ "Are you ready?"

_Harry felt for her pendent, still hanging by his heart. He nodded._

"Do it!"

The wall disappeared and the lances whipped inwards into his flesh. Harry howled and grabbed them in both hands.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!"

It was like the Cruciatus burnt into every molecule of his skin. And across his palms where the ropes of fire writhed? It was a hundred times worse!

"I am the boy who lived!" Harry cried into the dead air. "And you will MOVE!"

Harry jerked his hands up and felt the burning reigns cut into his hands.

"SHIFT!"

Hogwarts appeared before him for a moment, a student looked at him in shock before it was all whisked away.

"No! Again!"

The ground became flaming rock and the air acid smoke.

"No! Listen to me!" Harry gripped down harder on the threads and pulled them to his face, ignoring the tears flowing down it and the pain enveloping everything. "SHIFT!"

Bare rock, an empty sky.

Water stretching as into the distance.

The blackness of space. As cold as nothing.

"NO!" Harry was loosing it, the reigns were slipping through his fingers. "Please! I can't do it!"

Suddenly he saw her again, just for a moment, one green eye and one purple. Hovering in the air before him through the mist of pain.

"You can do anything."__

"Aaaaaaaaa!" Harry fell to his knees and pulled the flame to his chest, right up to the searing wound. Between his fists nestled the little pendent. A little nub of cool in the world of flame. He could do this.

Hogwarts again, a werewolf lunged before it all slipped away.

"YES!"

The greenhouses pulled out of the mist. The stars, the sound of spells. An inhuman howl.

"YES!"

Harry Potter laughed through the pain and the blood.

Hermione pointing to something sparkling on the ground. Pushing herself off her friend and hopping towards it frantically. Tripping…

Harry turning and stepping over to pick it up, holding its golden chain clenched in his fist.

Snape throwing curses at the last werewolf, laughing as it scrabbled backwards, trying to get away from him. Snape throwing another curse but, in his glee, missing. The curse flying through the air, rippling it like a heat wave. Shooting straight towards the sparkling golden hourglass handing from Harry's hand.

Harry smiled, and stepped in front of the curse.

Dirt…

Very wet dirt…

That was the first thought that went through Harry's head. He opened his eyes. The dirt in front of his nose was moving ever so slightly, the little grains rolling back and forth. His breath moving them. He was breathing again.

Some sensation at the sides of his head… familiar… sound. Someone was speaking.

"Harry?"

Harry twisted against the ground, movement returning to him like a distant memory. A shape standing there. Low to the ground.

"Harry dear boy they told us you were dead!"

Professor… he knew this person. He liked this person.

"Professor Flitwick." Harry's voice came out at barely a whisper.

"My dear boy you're bleeding!"

Harry looked down. One side of his chest was pockmarked with little holes like someone had grated him and the other side had two massive slashes over it, meeting in a cross. Snape's curse, Harry remembered, that had hit him there.

"Are you alright? You don't look like you're in pain?"

Harry chuckled wryly. After the world of flame the pains from his chest were nothing.

"You need the Hospital Wing Mr Potter."

Harry felt himself lifted up with magic and stood on his feet. He was still exactly where he had been before getting lost in the torrent, on the ground near the greenhouses. He saw some men in long black robes standing guard over the caved in tunnel but they weren't looking his way.

"I can walk," Harry mumbled as Professor Flitwick pointed his wand at him again. He had clawed his way out of non-existence, he could walk to the Hospital Wing.

Harry stumbled off towards the doors of Hogwarts.

"Of course you can Mr Potter." Professor Flitwick chuckled. "I was merely going to provide you with some clothes."

Harry looked down, he was wearing Pythea's pendent but nothing else. He glanced back at the ground where he had appeared, there was a lot of grey ash and what looked like a burnt belt buckle. Near where his feet had been there was a puddle of molten rubber.

"Oh." Harry blushed and tried to cover himself with his hands. With a wave of his wand the little teacher gave Harry loose fitting pajama pants and a dressing gown. Harry vaguely registered that they were blue and gold. "Thanks…"

Harry turned and continued his halting walk towards the hospital wing. He could hear Flitwick walking behind him, probably with his wand out in case Harry tripped. The hallways were deserted this early in the morning and Harry had no company as he pulled himself laboriously up a staircase.

He glanced down at the two wounds on his chest, the sand burn and the cuts. There was something wrong there. Harry shook his head, nothing about bleeding that much was right. Harry reached the doors to the hospital wing and pushed the doors open.

He saw his friends, Snape and some other people look up in shock. In his state, lightheaded from blood loss, he said the first thing that came to mind…

"Just face it kids." Rhyfedd crossed his arms. "The boy who lived is gone for good."

The doors to the hospital wing burst open and the Potter boy stepped inside, wavering slightly as if drunk.

"You know who I hate?" he said, smiling crookedly. "Godric Gryffindor… wanker!" The boy took two steps and fell on his face on the cold tiled floor.

Snape saw the students and the school nurse rush to Harry through a daze but he felt something else. A bubbling, floating sensation rising from his chest. He clamped his hand over his mouth but it escaped through his nose anyway, a snort that jerked his head back. He gave up trying and broke out in fits of laughter.

"Something amusing Professor?" Ms Zhao asked him, eyebrows arched in amusement.

"Hates… Ha ha ha! Hates Godric Gryffindor! Ha!" Snape held his hands to his aching sides and bowed down as another bout hit him. He pointed at the other Unspeakable. "And he walked in… right after you said… Ha ha ha!"

Why couldn't he stop laughing? More importantly, why didn't he _want_ to?

"Perhaps you should lie down Mr Snape." Natalie Zhao looked like she was barely stopping herself from giggling. "You've obviously had a trying night."

Yes, that must be it. Just tired.

Snape got up and walked towards the doors of the hospital wing. As he passed the Potter boy's bed the laughs broke out again and he had to hold the doorframe for support.

"_Severus?_" Snape saw Filius Flitwick staring at him in shock. "Are you alright?"

Yes, Snape realized, he was. It felt like a great pressure had been lifted off him. He must just be tired.

"I have had a long night." he told his fellow teacher before turning and walking away and leaving a very stunned silence in his wake.

"That was odd." Padma said dryly before turning back to the hospital bed where Harry was lying.

Harry chuckled, it was good to be back amongst friends.

"These won't heal Mr Potter," he heard Madam Pomfrey say while running her wand over the two wounds on his chest. "Neither of them. I'm afraid you'll have scars there for the rest of your life."

"Great…" Harry said, his voice sounding weak and airy in his ears. "… more scars." Harry pointed at his forehead. "I have enough trouble with this one."

"Well it's your own fault…" Harry heard an acerbic voice say. "You survive the killing curse and get one scar, you survive the torrent of ages and you get two more. If you don't want more scars stop doing _impossible things_."

Harry leant his head up and saw two people he didn't know standing by the foot of his bed, a man and a woman.

"Please forgive my friend," the woman said smoothly. "There was a departmental accident in which he lost his sense of tact."

The man snorted. Harry smiled, he thought he would like this woman.

"We are from the Ministry," the woman continued, "The Department of Mysteries."

"We need you to tell us how you survived the torrent," the man said.

"But obviously we would not impose on you in your current state," the woman added easily. "If we returned this evening?" She glanced at madam Pomfrey, who nodded.

"This evening then." She straightened. "I look forward to your story." She walked out of the hospital wing, the other Unspeakable followed, grumbling.

Harry looked at his friends and grinned.

"So, my entrance? Good or so-so?"

"Well ten out of ten for timing Harry," Hermione grinned.

"But what you said was a bit off," Padma chuckled. "_'I hate Godric Gryffindor'_ kind of a non-sequitur."

"And for Harry Potter, the-boy-who-cracks-one-liners…" Ron grinned broadly. "It was kind of disappointing."

"I blame blood loss." Harry leant back against the bed, he was just now realizing that he had last slept over twenty four hours ago. Or more, or less, he didn't quite know how the time in the torrent counted.

"How did you survive Harry?" Hermione asked curiously.

"How?" Harry felt his eyelids drooping. "I'm a Marauder. We don't lose." A thought crossed Harry's brain and he managed to pull himself back from sleep. "Where did Myrtle get to?"

"Don't know." Ron shook his head. "None of us have seen her."

"Should apologize to her. See whether we can find some ghost-flowers." Another thought hit him. "The werewolves? The attack?"

"All dealt with Harry." Parvati put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Everyone's alright and the crisis is over. Earlier than usual too."

"Yeah!" Ron perked up. "We've got almost three months of school left! We usually don't save everyone for ages yet, we may actually get time to have fun and…"

"Study for our end of year exams." Hermione said brightly. It was like watching a see-saw, the delight in Ron's face faded at exactly the same rate as Hermione's began to grow.

"Oh Harry, tell her," Ron urged. "Tell her we're having fun not studying."

"I may have to study Ron. If I want to do little things like _not_ get chucked out of Hogwarts." Harry tried to bring to bear any knowledge he had gleaned from the last few months of lessons and found only bare scrapes. "Definitely."

"It's alright Harry," Ron said comfortingly. "You're obviously sick. I'll ask you again when you're better."

Albus Dumbledore glanced at the map once again, when the dot had reappeared he had not believed it. He had thought there had to be some sort of mistake.

"He truly is unharmed?" he asked again.

"I would not say unharmed…" Poppy Pomfrey shook her head. "But he is alive and with a little care he will be fine. Scars, as I said, but nothing more."

"Thank you Poppy. You are forever the bringer of glad news."

Poppy knew him well enough to recognize the polite dismissal in his voice and left his office quietly. Dumbledore turned to the other person in the office.

"He survived…" Professor Lupin was hunched over a mug of something steaming. It smelled awful but apparently it helped. Even with it the poor werewolf looked miserable, apparently hearing the other werewolves howling so close had made his werewolf mind even more fractured than usual. "How could he survive? "

"I do not know Remus." Dumbledore shook his head. "I truly do not know how he survived. I am in the unusual position of having not the faintest idea. That worries me deeply. The boy himself worries me deeply."

"He disturbs me."

"Remus you must try to-"

"I know," Lupin croaked in his harsh voice. "It's just that he walks around looking so like James. Being so like James. He calls his friends the Marauders you know, when I heard that I almost… He has no right."

"It is just a name Remus," Dumbledore said soothingly. "And the boy is full of conundrums, I still can't work out where that pendent of his came from. I don't know how he managed to rig the Quidditch cup and I certainly can't prove he did. I don't know how he beat Severus in a duel. And now the torrent…" Dumbledore reached out and stroked Fawkes, the phoenix let out an appreciative trill.

"This boy, this boy that so much rests on, is a complete mystery to me. Not only that, he seems to have no qualms about disregarding my authority, ignoring my advice. I cannot even keep him within the grounds of Hogwarts against his will. So much rests on him, but I don't understand him and I certainly cannot control him." Dumbledore sighed. "I have rarely felt as old as I have in these past three years."

"He's not James." Remus shook his head.

"I hope not." Dumbledore closed his eyes in sadness. "But he seems to have courage like James Potter."

"Courage?" Remus snorted. "He's afraid of _water!_"

"Well we both know the reason for that." Dumbledore quieted himself. Some secrets were so important they should _never_ be voiced. "I suppose all we can do is wait and see." The two men fell silent. Dumbledore listened to his whirling machines, after all these years the sound was very comforting.

"Have you found another Defense teacher?" Lupin asked suddenly. Dumbledore sighed.

"I have been talking to another old friend. I have hope that he will accept the job."

"Good."

The silence returned, heavy with all the things not being said.

Snape awoke refreshed for the first time in weeks. He had gone directly into his bed after leaving the Hospital Wing and now the clock on his wall read eight thirty, he had slept all day. His body must have been trying to catch up on lost time.

He pulled his robes on and grabbed his wand from the bedside table. His hand went out on reflex to grab the other item there and he stiffened. The locket sat there, shining up at him. Snape swallowed hard. Did he want to carry Lily Evans around next to his heart forever?

Snape picked the locket up and held it lightly in his hand. Something must be done with it. He strode out of his quarters and down the corridor, scarcely glancing at the students he passed. He did not stop when he passed the great doors or Hogwarts but kept up his pace until it brought him to the shores of the lake.

He was breathing hard, and not from the walk. The locket was still clutched in his hand. He had to do it quickly otherwise he would lose his will.

_You abandoned me Sev. I thought we were best friends?_

No. Not now.

_You called me a mudblood._

"And what about you!" He spoke savagely to the locket nestled in his palm. "That day beside the lake after our exam. Where were you? Sitting and talking to your other friends. Leaving me all alone. You didn't come over until _James Potter_ got involved. You abandoned me long before I abandoned you…" Snape drew his hand back. "… I just did it _better_." And with all his strength he hurled the little piece of silver into the dark water.

I cannot believe I had the strength to do that.

Snape shook his head, he felt like he had begun again after years of living in stasis. Harry was right, wizards lived in the past far too much. He had finally gotten rid of the last…

No…

Snape felt his spirits dashed in a moment. He still had one last piece of Lily Evens. A piece he could not be rid of. He hung his head, and he had felt so free. The past was an anchor, Lily Evans was an anchor. He could never be truly free.

Or could he? As the Potter boy had so clearly proved, sometimes the impossible was simply something that hadn't been done yet. But it would require Occlumency of the highest order.

"Luckily," Thought Snape. "I _am_ an Occlumens of the highest order."

Snape sat down cross legged on the grass, cleared his mind, closed his eyes and proceeded to delete Lily Evans. Each memory was locked away, one by one, from their first meeting to the last day he ever saw her. He blocked them all. He would still retain the shape of them, a vague knowledge, but it was the best he could do.

It would be easier if he had a pensieve, Snape realized and momentarily thought of borrowing Dumbledore's. But no, he didn't want the old man to know about this. And besides, considering that Lily Evans was the hold he had had over Snape all these years he might not be inclined to help.

Snape closed the last memory and stood up, feeling lightheaded. Would this work? He began preparing to cast the spell, raised his wand then dropped it again to his side. He could not cast it, he had no happy memories anymore, he had just locked them all away. Snape cursed, it was hopeless. Then a mad idea struck him, he looked out over the lake, at the blazing sunset painting the hills with red and gold. He raised his arms and felt the summer wind rush through his robes.

So far from Spinners End. So far from the smog and dust and narrow streets. Here the air was clear, it smelled of heather. The stars were clear, unblocked by streetlights. Hogwarts, and the land around it, was his home. This was a happy memory.

_"Expecto Patronum!"_

He screwed his eyes shut at the moment of casting, he could not bear to watch. He felt the warmth of his patronus in front of him, touching his hand. He had to look eventually, he would have to. Courage, he was not a coward.

Snape snapped his eyes open and almost melted onto the floor. Tears sprung into his eyes. Writhing and looping in the air was a thin snake, curling like a ribbon caught in the wind. He had been successful, the last part of Lily Evans in him was gone.

"Is that your patronus?"

Snape turned towards the voice. It was the unspeakable, Natalie Zhao, she was standing calmly a few steps behind him with her hands clasped in front of her. She must have crept up on him, he had been quite distracted.

"You are still here?" he asked. "Did you question Harry all day?"

"We left and came back," she said, moving up to stand by the lake beside him. "I've just come from talking to him. Surviving the torrent, he really is amazing…" She trailed off shaking her head in disbelief.

"He is nothing if not surprising." Snape found he had little ire towards Harry Potter any more. "But I think you would be less amazed if you saw the utter mess he manages to make of potions."

"Perhaps." She smiled, it pushed little dimples up on her cheeks. He pointed at his patronus, still writhing in the air. "Very nice…"

"Is it?" Snape turned back to the snake. It was not, he now realized, a very interesting looking snake. Perhaps a little more than a meter long with harsh, dark bands all the way up its thin body. It had no hood behind its thin head like a cobra or a rattle like a rattlesnake, nothing that obviously identified it. Snape wondered what species it was.

"A banded krait," Natalie Zhao said smiling. She hadn't had eye contact, she must just have guessed what he was thinking. "Very nice."

"Really?" Snape's curiosity was piqued. "Does it have any particular… qualities?"

"Well…" She appeared to think for a moment. "It's diet is kind of interesting."

"How so?"

"It primarily eats other snakes."

"Really…" Snape found himself warming to the striped reptile.

"And it's venomous," Ms Zhao continued. "Sometimes the victim doesn't feel anything at the site of the bite for a while, lulls them into a false sense of security."

"Hmm…"

"It's a formidable toxin." The Unspeakable reached out and tickled the little glowing snake under the chin. "I think they're quite interesting."

"I think it will do nicely." Snape canceled the spell with a flick of his wand and his krait faded away.

"Why do you know so much about snakes?"

"I keep them as pets." She seemed to steel herself a touch. Perhaps she was used to negative reactions when people heard about her hobby.

"Fascinating," Snape said, and found that he meant it. "Do you have any kraits?"

"You'd have to be crazy to keep one of those as a pet. But I suppose you like dangerous pets here…" She smiled again, cheekily."… you apparently keep werewolves."

"Accidentally." Snape motioned towards the castle and they both began walking towards Hogwarts. "You wouldn't count rats that invaded your cellar as pets would you?"

"No, I'd count them as free snake food."

Snape chuckled. Laughing again, he really did feel like a new man. But there was something in the back of his mind now. Something he'd heard? Something she'd said? Hmm… it was right at the edge of his mind.

"Well I have to get back to the Ministry," Natalie said, they had reached the front of the castle. "Got to fill in the paperwork. God knows Rhyfedd won't bother, that man has an attitude problem…"

"He is a small minded, talent less man who is constantly trying to assert himself over you where he has no right to be because it shirks his ego to work under a woman," Snape stated flatly.

"I know," Natalie replied simply. "You had him pegged within five seconds of meeting him. My bosses at the Ministry however…" She spread her hands hopelessly. "… four years and counting. I'm hoping they catch on any day now."

"Let me introduce you to Sibyll Trelawney one day." Snape shrugged and smiled in commiseration. "Then you will _truly_ know what it is like to have an irritating co-worker."

They were both standing in front of Hogwarts, but neither of them seemed to want to move.

"Well…" She broke the stalemate. "… I should go. Thank you for showing me your patronus."

"Would you mind showing me your snake collection at some point?" Snape found himself asking. "I find myself strangely interested."

"Strangely interested…" She smiled that infuriating smile again. Snape was beginning to think she might actually be smarter than him. "… good choice of words." And with that she turned and began walking down the path towards the gates of Hogwarts.

Snape would have felt elated, but at that moment what he had been thinking slipped into place and he frowned, then clenched his fists as the full implications sunk in. He hoped he was wrong, he really did.

"Albus," he stepped out of the staircase into the Headmasters study.

"Severus," Dumbledore greeted him. "To what do I owe this late night visit?"

"Nothing good I am afraid." Snape shook his head. "This afternoon I remembered an offhand comment one of the werewolves in the Hospital Wing made. Taunting us about a map."

"They could not have known about it." Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. "You are not accusing Professor Lupin once aga-"

"No." Snape waved the complaint away. "No, that is what I thought initially, it would have been better if I was right. I went to visit the werewolf in the Ministry dungeons. He said he heard it because they were waiting underground, listening. They heard you talking to Harry when we brought him back from Hogsmeade."

"I fail to see the emergency in that…"

"Albus, remember what else you said that evening."

"I…" The Headmasters face went pale and his eyes opened wide. "I said that Voldemort was hiding in Albania."

"Yes." Snape nodded. "I think we now know why Greyback was not part of the attack. He had already left on a more important errand, a dog running back to its master. He left because he knows where to look."


	24. Spirit of Njordr: 1

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 1: Falling out of a block of Merignue into a pile of Merignue

She brushed up against the wall, her well muscled flank pressing against the wooden paneling. Her ears were attuned to the tiny scritches coming from around the corner and the tiny footfalls on the floorboards were still visible, glowing hot prints leading the way. She eased herself up to the edge then poked her snub nose around and struck.

The rat tried vainly to struggle as the poison seeped into it and she waited patiently as it died. She did not even have to dislocate her jaw to fit the little thing in. It was merely a taster anyhow, her master had promised sweeter meat soon.

She slid, full and languid, through the old house. Soon Pride would come and milk her venom, making her feel empty and used, but her master needed it so she steeled herself against his touch. Not that Pride wasn't gentle, it was his smell that irked her.

She knew that the three men who served her master had other names but she preferred her own, Ambition, Pride and Decay. She had named them after what she smelled on them. Master was, of course, just Master.

She slid into her masters room and curled up beside the fire. Her master was asleep but the others were talking again, she pushed her head down between her coils to block out the sound, but it wasn't enough.

"The merest mistake will alert them." Pride was saying. "There are people who know him very well."

"I am aware of that brother." Ambition replied archly. "And after all the study I have done I am one of them. You stay here and tend to our Masters needs, I will get the job done quite sufficiently in your absence." His voice made it quite clear that Pride's absence would in fact make the job much easier.

"The only reason you have this job is because _I_ would be missed."

"The reason I have this job is because our master gave it to me." Ambition grinned. "Never forget that."

"Careful _brother,_" Pride sneered. "Take care that _you_ never forget who you have to thank for your freedom and for your chance at vengeance."

"Who? Our lord for ordering me freed and planning how to achieve it or you for merely telling him where I was?"

"Both you arrogant little-"

"Arrogant?" Ambition laughed. She liked Ambition a bit more than Pride, he was more like a snake. "That is undoubtedly and most obviously the pot calling the cauldron black. Besides…" Ambition narrowed his eyes. "I've been wondering how long you knew where I was and did nothing about it."

"I could not compromise-"

"Of course." Ambition turned away, dismissive. "You could not compromise your position. Just like you can't now. So just the get the fuck out of my way blondy, I've got a job to do."

"I see you've learnt some colorful language rotting in Azkaban."

Ambition whipped around and punched Pride straight in the stomach. Ambition was thin and wiry but the punch had weight behind it and Pride crumpled to the floor. Ambition followed it up by stamping into Pride's kidney.

"Learnt some other things in there too brother." Ambition drew his wand and pointed it as the groaning figure on the floor. "So if I were you I'd never give into the delusion that you're the power player in our little co-operative venture."

Pride tried to rise but Ambition stamped on his hair.

"And another thing…" Ambition leant down to speak close to Pride's ear. "Our master remembers which of us remained loyal to him during his twelve year… convalescence." Ambition grinned. "And you weren't one of them, _brother_. So you stay here and milk the bloody snake and hope you build up enough brownie points to get you back in his good books. You stay here and brew the potion and I will deal with _everything else!_"

Ambition scuffed his foot back and forth, jerking Pride's hair and making him grit his teeth in pain. Ambition laughed and strode out of the room.

"Harry? We have a… a sort of proposition for you." Fred and George had cornered him in Ron's bedroom, they both had that mischievous look about them.

"I'm intrigued." Harry closed his book and tossed it to one side. "Apprehensive but intrigued. Who are we going to prank?"

"It's not about pranking anyone Harry." Said Fred at the same time as his brother said,

"Everyone."

"Apprehensive, intrigued and confused."

"Why don't you come up to our room Harry, we'll show you what we're talking about." Fred ushered him out of the room. Harry followed a little hesitantly.

Harry was hesitant because for a long time he had felt like he was building up some sort of unluckiness debt. The last three months of his third year at Hogwarts had passed without anyone trying to kill him (unprecedented for Harry) and he had even managed to pass all of his exams. In defense he had scraped a pass on Lupin's obstacle course (damn Hinkypunk led him into a sinkhole!) and almost managed to not blow his cauldron up in potions.

Part of the reason was that Snape had stopped picking on Harry in class and had even started treating him as a normal student. More than that the potions master had seemed almost cheerful at times. Harry had put it down to him planning something evil until he noticed that Snape was at his most happy the days after a small barn owl brought him letters.

As for the other exams Harry had botched together some sort of pig-English translation for ancient runes and avoided getting more than superficial bite wounds in Hagrid's '_practical_' test (they had all been given a box and asked to feed what has in the box. Harry had never worked out what was in his box, he had just stuffed things in there until it stopped biting him. Whether he fed it or suffocated it he never found out.)

Transfiguration he had blagged, History of magic too. Herbology had been fine because he'd been partnered with Neville and he had passed of his own talent in Astrology and Charms.

Of course revising hadn't been the first thing he'd done. The first thing he'd done had been to write a long letter to Pythea. He hadn't been ably to mention the torrent of course, but he hoped he had left enough hints that she would know how much he wanted to thank her. Of course the massive bunch of flowers might have also given her that hint.

He had even managed to have a holiday where there had been no unexplained magical occurrences, another first. Harry had hiked in Switzerland for some of the summer, nothing too serious but enough that he was very glad of his size-and-weight-defying bag.

On one memorable occasion, miles from the nearest town, he had met some older American tourists kitted up with huge heavy hiking backpacks and thick coats. He however had been carrying a small leather backpack while idly strumming a guitar. They had thought he was some sort of new-age hermit. Harry (or Jack 'Moonbeam' Baltzegaurd as he had introduced himself) had played along and told them that he had been sent here by a vision (a lie), that the positive energy of the mountain would heal them (a lie), that his guitar had been given to him by the Dalai Lama (a lie) and that the power of the crystals woven into his coat kept him warm (a lie, the crystals kept the rain off. The amulets kept him warm.). Surprisingly before they parted ways the woman began claming her arthritis had miraculously cleared up.

Harry had ended up in Geneva after a few weeks of this and spent most of the rest of the summer there, lazing around the city and finishing up the schoolwork he had had no chance to work at in the mountains. Plus juggling and playing the guitar for people around the city. When he could work out how to do both at the same time he _knew_ he'd impress people but for now he just ended up tangling his fingers.

He'd come back to England a few days early to visit his friends and get his school supplies. It was now the thirtieth of august and all the marauders were gathered at the burrow for a last get together before heading off to Hogwarts. Harry should have been happy, but instead he was apprehensive, wasn't he due some unpleasantness? And weren't the nefarious Weasley twins the perfect ones to administer it? True the unpleasantness he got in to was usually more of the '_oh god we're all gonna die_' variety, but then so was the some of the stuff the twins were into.

Harry followed Fred and George into their box-stacked bedroom.

"Where's safe to sit?" Harry cast about, looking at the different boxes. It took the twins a surprisingly long time to find a 'safe' box. Fred and George sat on the side of one of their beds. Fred leant forward and said,

"We want to talk to you, Harry, about an opportunity."

"A fabulous opportunity."

"We think its fabulous anyway."

"And we're usually right."

"Always right. And it is fabulous."

Harry glanced between one twin and the other.

"I feel like I'm being sold something dodgy here guys." Harry folded his arms and half smiled. "Possibly something that fell off the back of a van. What's this actually about?"

The twins looked at each other then said at the same time,

"Weasley Wizard Wheezes!"

"Actively Advocating Alliteration?"

"It's a joke shop Harry." George sniggered and continued, "Or at least we want it to be."

"And we thought that perhaps-"

"-the resident charms-meister-"

"-would be able to help us with some of the stuff." Fred shrugged. "After all you did basically build a broom last year-"

"-that out-flew a firebolt-"

"-with Ginny's help."

"Oh yes with Ginny's help."

Harry rearranged the disjointed sentences into some measure of order.

"So…" Harry began to smile as realization hit him. "You want me to help you design jokes? _Your_ kind of jokes? The intriguedness is growing. What have you come up with so far?"

The twins grinned and began a whirlwind tour of their current products, stopping occasionally to demonstrate a charm or spell for Harry. Usually they were spells that produced explosions or horrible shrieking noises.

"And this one Harry…" Fred raised his wand. "Is called the _avgo sapios!_"

Harry knew enough Greek to cover his nose.

"So um… this is the pond." Ron said helplessly, "It's got ducks in it sometimes."

"I see." Hermione was looking at him oddly. He knew he must be blushing as well as babbling like an idiot. "That's… interesting. I guess."

"About as interesting as history of magic." Ron muttered and Hermione laughed.

Oh great, now she was laughing at him too. Ron kicked a stone into the algae filled pond, it rested on the thick green surface for a moment before sinking.

Hermione had left Hogwarts almost completely burnt out, taking too many subjects on top of the werewolf chaos had reduced her to a shadow of herself. It had been especially bad during the exams which she had to revise for and take without the benefit of the time-turner. After the last one Harry and Ron had frog-marched her to McGonagall's office where she dropped divination and muggle studies.

Ron had seen her a couple of times over summer, the marauders sticking together even in Harry's absence, and each time she seemed a little more lively and like her old self.

"Well that's pretty much everything around here, lets just get back to the house." Ron pointed back towards the burrow. "I don't trust the twins left alone in there for this long."

"They're not alone," Hermione began walking beside him, walking close enough to make all the hairs on his arms stand up. "Harry's there too."

"That's even worse." Ron shook his head. "Between them I doubt they'll be a house left."

"If you felt like that why did you want to show me around in the first place?"

Why indeed?

"Well it was a nice day and Neville, Ginny and the twins went to town and Harry's acting all weird and there's marshmallow coming out of the house."

"Ron…" Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "If you wanted to change the subject you could have-"

"No there's really marshmallow coming out of the house!" Ron pointed at the long stream of solid white froth leaking from one of the windows and pooling on the ground. "It's the twins window. Oh god mum's gonna kill them."

The two marauders rushed to the side of the house.

"It's not exactly marshmallow." Hermione said, sounding puzzled, as the ran into the burrow. They stopped outside the twins door and Ron opened it hesitantly. On the other side was a solid wall of white, even bearing the imprint of the contours or the door and its handle.

"Let me see…" Hermione broke off a little bit and touched it tentatively to her tongue. "… meringue? I think its meringue."

"What's the difference?"

"Honestly Ron, you'd think you would be at least as knowledgeable as me on the subject of food."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron shot back but was silenced as a muffled voice called out,

"Someone out there?"

Ron gingerly pushed his hand into the crusty surface towards the noise.

"Feels really weird." Ron grimaced as he buried his hand up to the shoulder. "It's all crackly and dry." He felt something like cloth and pulled as hard as he could.

With a giant cascade of fragmented meringue a figure emerged from the room. It fell on the floor coughing and spluttering and spitting chunks of gummed white froth out of its mouth. Ron leant forward and guessed,

"Fr… George?"

"Yep." George got unsteadily to his feet and looked back into his room. "Oh, it didn't burst the door.  
We were worried it had."

"What happened?" Hermione asked, absentmindedly brushing more meringue crumbs off Georges back. "Did one of your pranks backfire?"

"No no no. Our pranks don't backfire." George said proudly. "We were demonstrating the eizuckerpeitsche spell to Harry and… well it looks like he got it."

"Are Harry and Fred still stuck in there?" Ron looked back at the fractured wall of meringue in horror.

"Fred was near the middle so he's probably well stuck, Harry was near the window…"

At that moment they all heard a short scream from outside, quickly cut off, then a thump followed by running footsteps. A moment later a meringue incrusted Harry burst up the stairs.

"You!" He pointed at George and advanced angrily. "What the hell was that!"

"Not my fault mate." George put his hands up to fend of the angered marauder. "You seem to have some sort of knack for that spell is all."

"Harry how did you get out?" Hermione asked.

"Managed to tunnel to the window."

"But you must have fallen-"

"Into a pile of meringue." Harry shrugged. "It's built up quite a heap out there." He turned to the twins room. "Come on, we'd better start getting rid of all this stuff or your twin's gonna run out of air."

"And mums coming back soon." George said in horror. "She'll have a fit!"

Harry grinned as Ron went pale and began attacking the meringue wall.

Harry ducked into the train carriage and looked around quickly,

"Still no peril?" He said wryly. "Whatever the karma gods are working up to it's not gonna be pretty." The marauders moved in after him. They were looking at each other a little oddly.

"Harry…" Hermione began.

"What?" Harry checked under his seat cushion before sitting down.

"Don't you think you're acting kind of… crazy?"

"No." Harry crossed his legs and sat, Indian-style, with his arms crossed. "Really, really no!" Harry shook his head, it was amazing how quickly the paranoia he'd developed in the years before he'd come to Hogwarts had returned. Street living was not conducive to trust.

"It's not crazy. Someone will try to kill me this year. I just know it."

"Harry you're the boy who lived." Parvati shook her head. "No ones going to kill you."

"I wouldn't say that." A voice sounded from the open door. "I wouldn't say that at all."

The marauders turned in unison.

"Oh buzz off Malfoy." Padma chuckled. "If you were going to kill him you would have done it ages ago."

"I will get you this year Potter." Malfoy was uncharacteristically alone. His usual crowd of flunkies absent. "I promise, by the Malfoy name, that I will get you this year. I will make you pay for everything."

"The Malfoy name represents a legacy of lies." Harry laughed and shrugged. "Get out of my train car."

"Well this year Potter." Malfoy licked his lips, his grey eyes shiny evilly. "I will show everyone at Hogwarts that I represent everything good about magic blood and that you are everything… everything unworthy and mediocre. This year I will show everyone. This year Potter, this year I win."

"Good luck with that." Harry shrugged dismissively. "Now move, you're blocking the trolley."

Malfoy just smiled and walked away.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry."

Harry sniffed the water in his glass. Poison? No… Maybe something in the food?

"I hope you have all enjoyed your break from the studies we give you."

Maybe he was just paranoid? Harry glanced around at the other students. Maybe he actually did have a chance to have a normal year.

"Firstly I would like to introduce Alastor Moody as our new defense against the darks teacher."

Harry glanced up at the table and picked out the new face. Or, more accurately, what was left of the new face. Their last defense teacher had been a werewolf, this one looked like he had been savaged by one. He had also obviously lost an eye at some point and had it replaced with a magical one. Harry wondered why he hadn't chosen one in his natural color. He had seen whole shops full of eyes in Geneva. They made lots of them there, like watches.

The man apparently known as Moody met his gaze with first one then the other eye. Harry smiled and toasted the new teacher with his glass. Anyone was better than Professor Lupin. Harry had tried to mend bridges with the werewolf during his last few weeks at school. He really had tried…

"Professor… Um…" Harry leant in through the door to Professor Lupin's office. "Are you, you know, all set." Professor Lupin looked up at him, flatly. "You know for tonight, full moon?"

"Yes." Professor Lupin seemed to be struggling to keep his voice flat and unemotional.

"I heard that Professor Snape makes some sort of…"

"I said yes." Lupin snapped. Seeing Harry's startled expression he took a deep breath and shook his head. "My apologies. Yes Severus makes a potion for me that allows me to better manage the transformations. Thank you for your kindness."

"You're welcome Professor Moony." Lupin's head snapped up. "You know, moony, like moon. Because of the whole boggart thing and…"

"Leave now." Usually the werewolf side of Lupin was not really evident. This was not so now. "Leave my office now."

"Did you eat a mad cow or something?" Harry yelled in exasperation.

"Get out!"

Harry had backed out of the office shaking his head and never spoken directly to Professor Lupin again. Even worse the man had stared daggers at him during their final few lessons. Even a scarred, one-eyed man was better than that. Besides, Harry wasn't really in a position to complain about other peoples scars.

Professor Dumbledore continued,

"Professor Moody is a former auror so I am sure he has much to teach you." Harry's ears perked up, this was interesting. Unfortunately Dumbledore had finished speaking on this particular subject. "I do have a second announcement to make. Something that I think you will all enjoy."

The whole school perked up.

"Slitherin house is infested with cockroaches?"

"Potions has been dropped from the syllabus?"

"Filch had an aneurism?"

"No." The corner of Professor Dumbledore's mouth twitched up in a half smile. "Better than all those things."

"Not possible." Harry called out.

"Very possible Mr Potter. I am talking about the Triwizard Tournament." The hall fell dead silent.

"Competing or hosting?" Someone on the Ravenclaw table said at only just above a whisper.

"Hosting Mr Jacobs, Hosting."

The hall exploded in sound.

"We are entering that tournament."

"Harry, Dumbledore said-"

"We. Are. Entering. That. Tournament." Harry was twitching with nervous energy. "We are entering and one of us is winning."

"We're not even eligible." Hermione complained. "We can't enter."

"We have not let werewolves and giant snakes and dark wizards stop us a bloody age restriction is not going to stand in our way." Harry sat down at the marauders table and crossed his arms. "We _deserve_ this. We deserve this because we are the best in this school and no one has worked harder to-"

"Subvert its rules?"

"- protect it. Than we have. So we are going to enter and we are going to win!"

The marauders around the table fell silent.

"Do you think this was what Malfoy was talking about?" Neville said suddenly. "He said he was gonna show everyone how good he was."

"The question will not arise because he will not be Hogwarts champion." Harry said decisively. "He will not be Hogwarts champion because he is a git. He is a git because of undeniable genetic and sociological factors that have conspired to make him a git. So…" Harry steepled his fingers and grinned. "As soon as this judge gets here, we're entering the tournament."

"Now…" Professor Moody scanned the class slowly with his normal eye while the fake one spun and rested on different students before moving on. "I don't stand much on ceremony so lets jump right in."

Harry felt the eye land on him for a moment before moving on.

"So… Lets start on curses. I've had a letter from Professor Lupin, also one from Professor Michelson and it looks like you're fairly well up on dark creatures and the basics of dueling."

"More than basics." Harry mumbled under his breath.

"But what you haven't learn yet is the worst of what wizards can do to each other." Moody shook his head. "You're all living in a dream world if you think you're ever safe. Last night at the feast I only saw one student check the food for poison before eating it." Moody pointed with his gnarled hand.

All eyes (real and unreal) fell on Harry.

"I… um… what?"

"Don't be ashamed of it! Be proud! By the end of the year I expect each and every one of you to exercise Constant Vigilance!" He ended the sentence shouting. Harry found himself staring directly into Moody's artificial eye. He felt like he was a bug under a shiny blue microscope. The eye scanned down to his chest. "Looks like you've been given reasons to be vigilante."

Before Harry had a chance to respond Moody had moved on and stomped up to the board.

"The dark arts!" Moody wrote like he was carving in stone and the chalk broke off during the s of arts. "Who can tell me a curse? A really bad one." A few of the class put their hands up. Moody pointed at one.

"Yes Mr… Crabbe is it?" He growled. "Familiar name. Familiar face too, I knew your father. Well, knew isn't quite the right word. What's yer curse?"

"The um…" Crabbe looked like he was regretting volunteering. He seemed to draw himself back up and smirk evilly at Harry. "The pain spear."

"Odd that you should know that one." Professor Moody's eyes narrowed. "No one uses that one any more. Not since the Cruciatus was invented. But no, right you are for bringing it up. You never know when the enemy's going to surprise you with something you haven't seen in a while. Constant Vigilance!"

Moody went on to explain at length the properties of the pain spear spell. Crabbe looked disgruntled, obviously he had wanted Moody to ask him how he knew about the spell.

Harry looked down at his book and found the page on the pain spear. It was clear that the author had only included it as an afterthought, Moody already had more on the board than was in the book. Padma leant over her desk to speak into his ear,

"Better than Lupin you think?"

"Much better." Harry agreed. "He's only cracked on the outside."

"You sure?" Padma glanced up skeptically as Moody barked out Constant Vigilance again. "He seems pretty thoroughly cracked to me."

The partially vs. thoroughly cracked debate continued into the coming weeks as the students got used to Moody's aggressive teaching style. One thing was for sure, there was not love lost between Moody and Snape. Moody glared at Snape suspiciously every time they passed in the corridors and Snape, for his part, sneered. But all that was drown out by the rumors and whispers running around about the triwizard tournament.

The day the foreign students were scheduled to arrive dawned bright and cool with a drizzle of rain covering the castle.

"It couldn't be sunny." Harry heard McGonagall say under her breath. "Just for today."

Harry grinned and scuffed his feet. If the entire school had been called out to greet these foreign students they could at least have the decency to be on time. Harry checked the clock, alright so they weren't scheduled to arrive for another five minutes but Harry had been waiting for ten so therefore (in his mind) they were late.

"Look!" Someone was pointing out over the lake. Harry's jaw dropped as he saw a ship rise out a whirlpool in the middle of the lake.

"Did they come all the way from Durmstrum in that?" Harry heard someone behind him say and gave an involuntary shudder. Underwater for all that time? Even with magical protection it made his skin crawl.

As the ship crawled up to the side of the lake Harry saw the man standing at the wheel turn and point up into the sky behind the castle. Harry turned just in time to see a giant carriage round the corner of the castle, drawn by giant white horses.

"Great." Thought Harry. "The competition starts with water and flying, two things I really suck at."

He glanced over at the teachers and saw them talking frantically. Apparently they hadn't planned for both delegations arriving at the same time. After some mildly raised voices Dumbledore headed down towards the lake while McGonagall headed towards where the carriage was landing. Harry considered the options and elbowed his way through the crowd in the direction Dumbledore went.

"Igor Karkaroff," Dumbledore held his hand out to greet the heavily robed wizard stepping out of the boat. "A pleasure to have you back in the country."

"Albus, it is good to be here." The man pushed back his hood revealing silver grey hair and heavy brows. He smiled in a way that never touched his dark eyes. He spoke in a heavy booming way that Harry was sure was at least partly put on. "Hogwarts is ah…" He glanced up at the grey sky. "… just as I remember it."

Harry chuckled and the Durmstrang Headmaster glanced at him in the crowd.

"Ah, and this would be your star pupil." Harry saw the crowd part in front of him. "The famous Harry Potter."

"No no no…" Harry waved his hands grinning. "The name's Jack 'Moonbeam' Baltzegaurd."

"Ah, ha ha." Igor's laugh held no warmth whatsoever. "We are many celebrities here I see…"

"Wha?"

"Let me introduce you to someone." Karkaroff motioned a frowning boy standing behind him forward. "This is Viktor Krum." Harry heard gasps from behind him as he shook Viktor's hand.

"Pleasure." Harry smiled at the young wizard. "Are you Durmstrurn's head boy or something?" Again the gasps.

"You don't know who I am?" Viktor Krum asked in heavily accented English.

"Um… Should I?"

Karkaroff snorted but Krum seemed to find this turn of events quite amusing. He was smiling at any rate. Harry couldn't tell what was going on behind those giant black eyebrows.

"Well," Dumbledore said, breaking the stalemate. "I can already see the Beauxbatons delegation is already inside, shall we join them?"

"Harry, that was _Viktor Krum!_"

"You know Ron, I did work that out. And even if I hadn't the _six million_ times you've told me would have tipped me off. Now can we please concentrate?" Harry turned to the goblet standing in the center of the hall. He glanced over at Hermione. "Anything?"

"I'm telling you Harry we're not getting past the age line." She looked up from the book on her knees and shook her head. "At least not with anything I can think of now."

Harry shook his head, there were loads of people crowding into the entrance hall so it wasn't like they could do anything right now. If they were going to do anything it would have to be at tonight, but he had hoped to at least have a plan before the castle went to sleep.

"An age potion do you think?" Fred said behind him.

"I think Dumbledore would have thought of that." Hermione shook her head. "I don't think any potion any fourth year _or_ sixth year could make could get past the line."

"What if we just get one of the older students to put it in for us?" Neville hazarded.

"Nope." George said as he and his brother sidled up to them. "Saw some Slitherin try that almost as soon as the goblet was out. The other names just flew out of his pocket as soon as he crossed the line."

"Yep," Fred shook his head in mock sympathy. "Poor chap didn't even get to put his own name since he tripped over his own beard and ended up out cold."

"Wait…" Padma looked thoughtful. "What if we get someone to cross the line _then_ write our names on some-"

"Saw that too." Fred broke in.

"Yeah," His twin continued. "You don't even want to know what happened to him!"

"Oh for Christ sake!" Harry growled in irritation. "Is there at least a way to test the line?"

"Yeah, run into it." Ron suggested.

"No you idiot." Padma shook her head. "Just spitball it."

"Excuse me? You what?" Harry's eyebrows raised like balloons.

"Like this…" Harry watched, gob-smacked, as Padma took a spare scrap of parchment out of her bag and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed for a few seconds then daintily took the sodden mess out from between her lips and, without hesitation, tossed it at the goblet of fire. As the ball crossed the line there was a flash of light and the ball shot out like a bullet, impacting on the wall behind them.

"Brilliant." Said the Weasley twins in one voice.

"We should do it again-"

"With more balls."

"With bigger balls!"

"With fireworks in them!"

"Children, children…" Harry said in a calming voice. "Lets not get sidetracked."

"It's almost curfew anyway." Parvarti looked down at her watch then smiled. "Don't worry, it'll all be alright on the night!"

"Sister…" Padma shook her head as she picked up her bag. "This is the freakin' night!"

Harry chuckled as they left the hall then turned as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. The owner of the hand was a boy a little older than him with blond hair and a sort of round face. He was in Ravenclaw colors and was wearing a baseball cap that read 'Tutshill Tornadoes' and had a tornado as the logo.

"Yeah?" Harry cocked his head. "Can I help you?"

"Um," The boy bit his lip and looked around. "Could I talk to you?"

"Very cloak and dagger but ok." Harry waved the marauders off and moved into a side corridor. "Who are you?"

"David Mason." The boy smiled shyly. "Don't worry if you don't remember me. I'm a friend of Cho's."

"Oh ok. Support the same team too I see." Harry leant nonchalantly against the stone wall. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well basically…" The boy scuffed a foot on the floor nervously. "Me and… and some of the other guys. Not just Ravenclaw but the whole school well… we figure you've got a plan."

"For what?"

"For the goblet of fire." David rubbed his hands together almost hungrily. "Lots of us don't think the age limit's fair so we figure…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick envelope. "A couple of extra names. Just if you get the chance you know?"

"Hate to break it to you mate." Harry shrugged apologetically. "But I don't have the slightest clue how to get through the age line."

"Really? But you're Harry Potter! You always… Oh, I get it." David winked and pushed the envelope into his hand. "Of course you don't." The Ravenclaw winked again and trotted off down the corridor.

"I really don't!" Harry called after him but that only caused the boy to turn and wink conspiratorially again. "Seriously!"

"Problem Mr Potter?"

Harry spun and looked up into the face of the judge that had been sitting with Dumbledore at the feast. What was his name… Couch?

"Mr Couch?"

"Crouch." The man's heavily lined face was utterly humorless.

"Mr Crouch, sorry. And no there's no problem."

"Not thinking of trying to get past the age line are you lad?" He said in what he must of thought was a fatherly manner.

"No sir." Harry did his best Oliver Twist impression. "I wouldn't do such a horrible thing."

"Ah, of course." The Triwizard judge nodded. "Of course I'm sure more people would come to the tournament if the famous Harry Potter was competing. But we must remember that we cannot pick and choose the rules we wish to obey based on momentary expediency. You understand Mr Potter?"

"Yes sir." Harry felt it was better to stick with simple answers.

"Very well." Mr Crouch's mouth twitched into a thin smile. "It was nice meeting you Mr Potter."

Harry didn't relax until the man was a safe few corridors away. Harry sighed and slipped the envelope out of his sleeve. What were the statistics for teenage heart attacks? Harry wondered. Whatever they were they had just come very close to getting one digit larger.

Harry leant against the wall and stared out of one of the castles arched windows at the lake below, remembering last year. Why was it that he was forever trapped inside or outside wards? Last year he had circumvented them by swimming around, couldn't do that this time. The werewolves had tunneled under could he do that? Not without attracting a lot of attention. So that left…

Harry grinned and rushed back to the entrance hall where a single spit ball showed him how to beat the greatest wizard in the world.

"All set Ginsters?" Harry slid behind Ginny on the Chimera and checked that he had both the envelope containing the marauders names and the one given to him by David Mason in his pocket.

"Yes, you don't have to come with me you know." Ginny looked back at him, grinning in the faint moonlight.

"You can't fly and make spitballs at the same time." Was the excuse Harry offered. Really he just wanted to be the one to put the names into the goblet, wanted to know first hand that he'd beat Dumbledore. Harry glanced around and saw a marauder guarding every door. "Everybody's in place, come on."

Ginny obediently lifted them off the floor and hovered them up near the ceiling.

"Moment of truth." Harry got out some parchment and rolled it expertly before gumming it, silencing it and throwing it forwards. It landed in the middle of the age line, right beside the goblet. Harry pumped the air with his fist. "Potter 1, Dumbledore 0. Proving that I am unmitigated awesome! Lets go!"

Ginny bit back a chuckle and carefully floated them forward until they were directly over the goblet, then took them slowly down.

"Ok, stop here. Let's not touch the floor, never know what other spells the old man's put around the place." Harry reached into his pocket and drew out the marauders envelope then dropped it into the goblet. The fire spurted up for a moment, then died down.

Harry hesitantly pulled the other envelope out of his pocket. Should he? Should he not? It was only fair to give everybody a decent chance and Mason seemed like a nice enough bloke (if a bit weird). He probably wouldn't be chosen anyway. Ah well, what the hell? Harry dropped the other envelope into the flames.

The marauders entered the great hall in a huddle, all eyes focused directly on the goblet.

"I'm nervous." Neville admitted as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "I don't know if I want to enter anymore."

"Bit late now." Padma said dryly, but the nerves were obvious in her voice too and the marauders quickly fell into silence.

"Whichever one of us it is the rest of us are behind them." Harry smiled at his friends. "That's for certain."

"But what if it's not one of us?" George asked.

"Not… one… of us?" Harry's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Quit your crazy talk George. That could never happen."

"Children, children…" The hall fell silent as Dumbledore began to speak. "I believe the moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived. The goblet will be announcing it's choices momentarily. I would ask you to remember that, even if you were not chosen, the Tournament is still a contest between the schools. I expect to see no hard feelings, you must support your champions one hundred percent. Now…" Dumbledore turned towards the goblet.

The hall waited in silence for almost a minute before the goblet 's flames turned bright red and a little scrap of parchment flew out. Dumbledore caught it expertly.

"The Beauxbatons champion is… Fleur Delacour!"

Harry saw one of the French girls clap her hands to her face in shock before getting up and walking towards the end of the hall.

"She's… she's…" Ron sighed inaudibly.

"What is it Ron?" Harry asked.

"She's… just… I mean… Perfect…" Harry just shrugged. Ron looked aghast.. "Harry can't you see her?"

Harry tuned to watch the first champion leaving the hall.

"Yeah? What about her?"

Ron opened his mouth to retort but the goblet flared red again and the hall fell silent.

"The Durmstrang champion will be Viktor Krum!"

The red uniformed students rose, cheering, as their champion walked towards the front of the hall. Most of the Hogwarts students did too.

Harry was biting his nails, this next one was it. The goblet turned red again and a piece of parchment pin-wheeled out to be caught in Dumbledore's hand. As the Headmaster read it the smile dropped from his face and his hand began to shake. In a cold, stony voice he said,

"The Hogwarts champion…" He seemed to grit his teeth. "Is Draco Malfoy."

The hall erupted in uproar. Harry turned, his eyes seeking out the blond haired Slitherin. Draco seemed unperturbed by the reception his name had received but instead stood calmly and walked towards the front of the hall. Before he left the hall however he turned and scanned down the Gryffindor table with those cold grey eyes. He met Harry's gaze, grinned evilly and winked.


	25. Spirit of Njordr: 2

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 2: Allies

"Son of a bitch." Harry breathed through his teeth. He felt like his chest was going to explode, he had to let the pressure out somehow. "SON OF A BITCH!"

"Mr Potter!" Harry's eyes flicked back to Dumbledore, who was looking at him angrily. "Contain yourself!"

"But he is!" Harry yelled, words leaking out of him uncontrollably. "Haven't you met his mother?" The hall erupted in laughter. Malfoy scowled but kept on walking, leaving the great hall by the same door the other champions had left by.

Dumbledore held up his hands for silence.

"Obviously this is shocking and unprecedented." He said in an effortlessly level voice. "I remind you all that I expect you to pull behind your champion…" Dumbledore stopped as the students began yelling again. "… or at least not openly oppose him. Now, if you will excuse me…"

Dumbledore left the still startled students and walked out through the back door of the hall, Karkarov and Madam Maxim followed him. For a few more moments everyone was silent then McGonagall stood.

"If you would all return to you-" But she was cut off as someone yelled,

"Professor!"

The school turned in time to see the goblet burn red again. A scrap of paper flew out of it and landed on the stone floor. For a moment no one moved to touch it then Professor Snape, his expression unreadable, got up from his chair. His footfalls were the only sound in the hall as he walked round the high table and came to a stop in front of the little scrap of paper. He turned it over with the tip of his shoe.

"Harry Potter." He was staring down at the sheet, his face a blank mask. "It says Harry Potter."

After a moment someone started clapping, then someone else, then some more, the great hall exploded with applause.

"Knew it'd be you Harry." Harry heard someone say as a hand slapped him on the back. Crowd pressure moved him towards the front of the hall, his own brain seemed to have stopped working. He saw Snape pick up the scrap of paper, then have a short, whispered, conversation with McGonagall. The potions master turned to him.

"Come along Potter."

"Wha…?" Harry mind was still reeling.

"We must take you to join the other champions." Snape led him out of the tumultuous hall and into a short hallway. The noise from the clapping faded as the door closed behind them. Snape made no move to leave by the other door.

"Did you put your name into the goblet of fire?" Snape asked urgently.

"Wha…?" Harry glanced around, they were alone. The other champions must be through the other door. "Why are you-"

"Potter, try to scrape together some acumen! Did you put your name into the goblet?"

Snape seemed almost concerned.

"You seem almost concerned." Harry grinned, his brain getting back in gear. "Have those little barn owls been bringing you drugs or something?" Snape flinched back as if stung.

"Damn it Potter!" Snape grabbed Harry's robe. "This is not a time for jokes. More is going on here than you realize. Did you or did you not-"

"Yes." Harry nodded, "I put my name in."

The potions master narrowed his eyes, Harry felt the familiar pressure in his brain. He opened his mind long enough to reveal the memory of him putting the envelope into the flame then blanked it again. Snape nodded thoughtfully.

"Good."

"Good?" Harry asked quizzically.

"Potter the possibilities if someone else put your name into the goblet are far worse than if you put it in yourself. This simplifies things, believe me…" Snape glanced at the scrap of paper he was holding and frowned. "… or perhaps not."

"What is it?"

"Suffice to say I have spent long enough trawling through what you seem to think constitute essays to recognize your handwriting." Snape held out the parchment for him to see. "This is not your handwriting."

"No…" Harry felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "No it's not. What the hell is going on?" He asked plaintively.

"If I knew that Potter." Snape moved towards the door. "I would not have to ask questions."

Harry gulped and followed the potions master through the door. On the other side was another room with portraits hung all around the walls. The champions and their Headmasters were standing in the center of the room, apparently arguing. Madam Maxim was pointing at Malfoy with one of her unusually long fingers. They all fell silent as Harry and his teacher entered the room.

"Severus what is this?" Dumbledore asked pointedly.

"This is the fourth champion." Snape glanced down at Harry. "Apparently."

"What is 'zis." Madam Maxim waved her hand at Harry. "Some kind of joke to you here at 'ogwarts? First your champion iz a minor, now _'zis_?"

"I do not think it is a joke." Karkarov said angrily. "This _so called_ champion."

"He is a champion. Despite what some of us might wish." Snape interrupted dryly. Harry couldn't help but think how different he seemed from a moment ago. "The entire of Hogwarts saw his name leave the goblet, as did the delegations from your own schools. He is as legitimate a champion as-"

"As Mr Draco." Madam Maxim scoffed. "Your other underage champion."

"If I may…" Harry glanced at the man of to one side who had begun to speak. He hadn't even realized Mr Crouch was in the room. "The rules are very clear. If a persons name leaves the goblet of fire, then that person is a champion. There can be no denying that."

"Harry…" Dumbledore spoke for the first time. "Did you put your name into the goblet of fire?"

"I…" Harry felt Snape's hand tap him in the small of the back. "… No." He heard the potions master breath out lightly. "No I didn't. I tried but… I couldn't get past the ward."

"And you Draco?" Snape asked Malfoy.

"Honestly sir…" Malfoy smirked. "I have no idea how my name got in there."

Yes you do you slimy little… Harry's fists clenched involuntarily.

"Well I believe that settles it." Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Rest assured this matter will be investigated but until then… we have four champions."

Harry shook his head. Why did he get the feeling that the worst was yet to come?

As they left the room Harry fell into step with Malfoy. Neither spoke until they were out of earshot of the teachers. Harry took a breath to steady himself then said,

"I assume that no one named David Mason really goes to Hogwarts?" Malfoy turned to him and sneered.

"Good wasn't it." Malfoys voice took on a simpering tone. "_Oh Harry, it wouldn't be fair if everyone didn't have a chance._"

"Bastard."

"I planned it all out. The hat, the personality, even down to the name. David Mason, sounds _common_ doesn't it. Sounds muggleborn." Malfoy grinned triumphantly. "And you fell for it."

"I repeat. Bastard."

"A bastard who won. I said I was going to get you didn't I? The look on your face when I was chosen…"

"Hang on…" Harry stopped suddenly. "Why were you chosen? Don't tell me the goblet actually picked you legit? You wouldn't leave it up to chance."

"Very good Potter, you're not quite as stupid as you look." Malfoy smiled. "Ever heard of a malignant protean charm? No of course-"

"A charm that aggressively seeks out things that look a bit like it…" Harry interrupted. "And makes them look exactly like it. Oh you little…." Understanding dawned in Harry's eyes. "The names! You cast it on the names!"

"Exactly!" Malfoy nodded. "My name went in with the charm on it and changed all the other slips so that they read Draco Malfoy. I didn't leave it to chance, I was the only candidate."

"Bastard is too good a word for you, I'm going with rat-bastard."

"The hard bit was making sure it only changed the Hogwarts names." Malfoy was still in full exposition-mode. "I mean it would've looked a bit odd if I had been picked for Beauxbatons."

"Rat-bastard-wanker."

"Which is why I can't understand," Malfoy turned to Harry, his eyes narrowing. "How you were picked. My spell should have gotten you…"

Harry said nothing, fairly sure that the protean _had_ eaten up the scrap of parchment that had had his name on it and that the one that had eventually come out had been put in by someone else.

"You must have found some way to enter as another school." Malfoy said thoughtfully. "Tricked the goblet into entering your name for a fourth school."

Mental note: suggest that theory to someone. Dumbledore? No, too meddlesome. McGonagall? She would go straight to Dumbledore. Moody? He'd blow it way out of proportion. Snape?…?

"Just remember Potter," Malfoy brought him back to the moment. "I know who the real Hogwarts champion is and I'm going to prove it to everyone."

"You think you're gonna win?" Harry laughed. "Hands up everyone who's fought basilisks and werewolves… What? Just me?"

"I will crush you." Malfoy took off again in the direction of the Slytherin dungeon. "Mark my words Potter."

"Marked." Harry rolled his eyes. "Marked, signed and sealed in the bullshit box along with Nostradamus and UFOs."

Harry turned and hurried up towards the Gryffindor common room. The castle was empty but the portraits were whispering to each other as he climbed through towards the seventh floor. He stopped in one deserted corridor and quietly called,

"Myrtle…" He waited a few moments, then the glowing girl slid through the floor.

"Hmm?" She cocked her head quizzically, then giggled. "I heard a rumor about you. Something about being champion?"

Harry grinned and winked, Myrtle giggled again.

"Knew it would have to be you Harry."

"Marauders don't lose." Harry said cockily. "As you well know."

"Because I am a marauder." Myrtle said, proudly puffing up her smoky form, Harry nodded.

"I wanted to ask you something." Myrtle became serious as Harry spoke. "Did you see anyone else go near the goblet last night, maybe before the rest of us got there or after we left?"

"Nope." Myrtle shook her head. "Didn't _see_ anyone." She put peculiar emphasis on the word '_see_'.

"Myrtle? Keeping secrets isn't nice." Harry tutted playfully.

"I didn't see anyone." The ghost repeated, smiling slyly. "But one time the door opened by itself, a moment later the goblet flared up like someone put something in it. Then the door closed."

"Invisibility cloak." Harry guessed, nodding. "Did you try to get a look-see?"

"Of course." Myrtle looked offended. "I followed them but I couldn't get close. I wasn't seen." She added proudly.

"I know you weren't." Harry nodded, Myrtle looked a little happier. "Can you ask around the portraits? See if anyone saw anyone sneaking around?"

"Of course Harry!" Myrtle beamed at being given a job and shot away through the wall. Harry chuckled, it was amazing how having friends changed a person, or a ghost.

Harry walked around the corner and stood in front of the fat lady. The woman in the portrait crossed her arms and said,

"I'm waiting."

"I'm not." Harry spelled an unlocking charm and the portrait creaked to the side.

"I wish you wouldn't do that Mr Potter." The fat lady shook her head.

"It's easier than remembering the passwords." Harry grinned as he stepped through the portrait hole. As soon as he was through he was viciously attacked. "Get off me! Geroff!"

"We knew it'd be you Harry!"

Harry pushed away the massed hordes of Gryffindor house, smiled and bowed when they cheered for him, looked up in mild shock at the poster of him they had hung above the fireplace and sought out the marauders.

"We need to talk." Harry said before anyone could open their mouths. "Too many ears here, up to the bedroom." Harry's friends wordlessly followed him up to the boys bedroom and he hastily sketched out everything that had happened. After he had finished the first thing Ron said was,

"Malfoy's gonna pay."

"I'm a bit more worried about this invisible man." Padma said, shaking her head. "Invisibility cloaks are rare."

"Maybe someone just really wanted Harry to win." Her sister suggested.

"Then why bother wearing the cloak." Hermione pointed out. "People who hide what they're doing are usually up to something."

"Malfoy's gonna _pay!_" Ron repeated, apparently ignoring the conversation around him.

"Why the hell would someone want me in the competition?" Harry wondered aloud. "Want it enough to go to these lengths?"

"Maybe someone wants to give Hogwarts a better chance." Fred said evenly, his brother added…

"Or Gryffindor." George grinned. "If they'll keep helping we should put some money on you."

"More likely someone hopes they can use the tournament to off me without anyone suspecting anything." Harry shrugged. "That would be more my luck."

"Harry, stop being paranoid!" Hermione admonished him. "You're beginning to sound like Professor Moody."

"Professor Moody is the most sensible person that's ever taught us." Harry said, to general shock. "It's not paranoia if they really _are_ out to get you!"

"Harry someone made you a champion!" Pavarti said in exasperation. "It's a good thing, this person is trying to help you!"

"Malfoy is going to-"

"Oh pay attention Ron!" Hermione snapped. "Try to keep up."

"Lots of money…" George continued.

"No one's helping him." Padma said to her sister.

"Malfoy is going-"

"They could be-"

"Money-"

"Enough!" Harry cut through the bickering marauders. "We know nothing. Not enough to actually work anything out at any rate. Discussion at this point is useless…" Harry trailed off as Myrtle rose through the floorboards.

"Domestic troubles?" The ghost giggled.

"You find something Myrtle?" Harry asked quickly. "Did one of the portraits see someone suspicious?"

"Yes." She pointed at Harry. "You. And you and you and you…" She pointed at Padma, Ginny and Ron. "… and you and you and you -"

"Ok, we get the point." Harry held his hands up. He shook his head ruefully. "Thanks for trying."

"But…" Myrtle did a little loop in the air and winked. "The old lady near the kitchens said that Moody's got a cloak."

"What?" Harry jerked, startled, like the rest of the marauders. "An invisibility cloak? Seriously?"

"Mm Hm!" Myrtle hummed happily, obviously proud of gaining this tidbit of info. "And they're not that common."

"No." Hermione murmured, "They're really rare."

"'_The most sensible person that's ever taught us_' Harry?" Ginny grinned. "Anything you have to say?"

"Marauders never lose." Harry said chuckling. "They are however, on occasion, dead wrong."

When Harry opened his eyes the next morning he groaned and rolled back over. He knew exactly what this day would bring.

"It's him!"

"It's Harry!"

"The champion!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, and no I will not give a bloody autograph!" Harry fended off a bunch of Gryffindors. "Y'd think they had never met me before."

"That's part of it Harry." Hermione said sagely.

"They haven't met me?" Harry said quizzically, eyeing a camera-wielding Colin Creevy. "I'm sure I've met him."

"But Harry you're very good at making people forget you're Harry Potter." The two of them moved out of the common room on the way to ancient runes. "What I'm saying is that they just got reminded."

"Forgetting I'm Harry Potter?"

"You know…" Hermione waved vaguely. "Juggling, joking, making everyone feel at ease, people forget you're a celebrity. It's not deliberate…"

Harry winced, it was often entirely deliberate.

"But that's not to make people forget." Harry ducked behind a suit of armor as a group of students passed by, then continued, "That's just… you know… breaking the ice."

"Like with Ginny?" Hermione grinned slyly.

"Like with Ginny." Harry nodded, unfazed. "Ron told you about that?"

"Yes."

"On one of your little walks?"

"Yes." Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"On one of your _romantic_ walks?"

"_Harry!_"

"What?" Harry grinned as Hermione shoved him irritably. "Weren't they romantic?"

"We discussed ducks." Hermione said flatly, not meeting Harry's eyes. "And ponds."

"_Ze art of seduction._" Harry affected a French accent. "_It is truly dead._"

After runes the two of them met up with the other marauders down in the potions classroom.

Harry had already decided that he'd let Snape in on what they'd found out and was torn between dread and curiosity. Snape had obviously turned some kind of new leaf but they had never pressed to see how far that change went. To play it safe he actually tried during the potions lesson. He still failed but at least nothing exploded this time. After class he lingered by his desk, putting away his stuff very slowly.

"Something you want Potter?" Snape looked up from his desk.

"Um…" Harry waited a tick for the last student to leave then said. "I've had an idea about why my name might have come out of the goblet."

"Yes?"

"If someone entered me for a fourth school." Snape appeared thoughtful and Harry pressed on. "That would ensure I got picked, and it would explain why there were four champions."

"Interesting…" Snape tapped the end of his pen on his lip thoughtfully. Wait…! Harry did a double take in case his eyes had deceived him. Snape was using a pen! It was an antique looking fountain pen but still… Snape interrupted his thoughts. "Of course that would mean that the real champion was Draco."

"Probably no way to prove it." Harry said quickly.

"Actually-"

"No way to prove it _at all_." Harry grinned, for a moment he could have sworn he saw the edge of Snape's mouth twitch up.

"Perhaps not." Snape shook his head. "In any case finding out who did put your name in and why is of greater importance." Snape's hand moved to his arm involuntarily, like a reflex.

"Problem?" Harry asked. Snape shook his head, his eyes downcast.

"Premonition."

"Not usually very reliable those." Harry chuckled.

"This one is." Snape didn't seem to feel like he had to add anything else but something clicked on the edge of Harry's memory.

"The dark mark?" Snape's head whipped up.

"How do you know about that?" He asked harshly.

"I…" Harry opened his mouth to answer but realized with shock that he had no idea how he had heard about the dark mark. It was all there though, the mark in the sky meant death, the mark in flesh meant servitude. "I must have… read it… somewhere…"

Snape had strode around the table in an instant and grabbed Harry by his shoulders. This time it didn't feel like a little pressure in his mind, it felt like a hammer.

"Stop! It hurts!" Harry yelled.

"Stop occluding your mind!" Snape growled, jerking Harry's head back to keep eye contact.

"I'm not!" Harry pushed Snape away but kept eye contact, deliberately relaxing his mind. Snape opened his mouth in shock, memories flashed past for a few moments before Snape broke the connection and sagged back onto his desk.

"Satisfied?" Harry snarled, breathing hard.

"Not even slightly." Snape shook his head, he also seemed out of breath. "I couldn't see how you know about the mark, or that I have one."

"I told you. I must have read it somewhere." Harry shook his head. "Why do you have one anyway? I mean why did you become a death eater?"

"Youth. Stupidity. Misplaced rage." Snape stood slowly and rolled his sleeve back. The mark was exactly as Harry remembered it except greatly faded. If Snape's skin wasn't so pale it would be almost invisible.

"Why did you leave? Why defect to Dumbledore? I assume that's what you did or you wouldn't be here."

"Why?…" Snape cocked his head and a sliver of a smile appeared on his face. "Surprisingly the reason is something that is not of the slightest importance to me anymore. But rest assured I am no longer young, stupid or full of misplaced rage."

"It's well placed you mean?" Harry dug slyly.

"It's more… channeled." Snape stood and brushed his robes with his hands before walking to a cabinet behind his desk and getting out a small vial of blue potion. "I am sorry for invading your mind so roughly. This should help with the pain." He held out the vial.

"You taste it first." Snape's eyebrow quirked up quizzically. "Constant vigilance."

Snape chuckled and drank a good swallow of the potion before handing it to Harry who gratefully chucked back the rest. His headache disappeared almost instantly.

"Is it getting darker?" Harry asked.

"Slowly." Snape nodded. "I have yet to tell Dumbledore. He may react unpredictably."

"Know what that's like." Harry chuckled. "Do you think Voldemort or maybe the death eaters have something to do with the goblet and me?"

"We don't have the information to make that judgment right now." Snape waved his hand as if batting something away. "Although I always believe it prudent to prepare for the worst."

"Yeah…" Harry said, but he had thought of something. He bit his lip and looked at Snape thoughtfully.

"Potter? What are you thinking?"

"Just wondering how far our new truce goes." Harry glanced back at the door to check no one was listening. "If I were to ask for veritaserum…"

"You have a suspect?" Snape guessed. "And you wish to question them to be sure."

"That would be a safe assumption." Harry replied evasively.

"Tell me who it is and I will do it."

"You would never get close enough." Harry grinned. "I think I can."

Snape regarded him silently for a few moments then moved back to the potions cabinet. He muttered a work under his breath and a drawer appeared out of the side. Snape reached in and drew out a tiny bottle, barely more than a thimble.

"Three drops is all that is necessary." Snape pressed the bottle into Harry's hand. "Show no one else. Tell no one you have that."

"Thank you." Harry curled his fingers around the little bottle. "I'll tell you how it plays out." Harry moved off towards the door but stopped just before opening it.

"Out of interest…" He asked, looking back at his teacher across the empty classroom. "Whose is that little barn owl?"

"None of your business Potter."

"Ah…" Harry tapped the side of his nose. "She must really be something…"

"She is."

Harry didn't have a lesson with Moody until Friday, which meant that he had to carry that little bottle around the whole time, a little bottle of carry-able nervousness. He constantly weighed the risks of hiding it somewhere with the risks of having it found on his person but in the end come down on the side of the latter. Besides, his coat had a few pockets that would elude all but the most aggressive searchers.

When the lesson actually came about Harry was gritting his teeth, he still didn't know if this was a good idea, or even possible. It wasn't too late to return the bottle to Snape, or to find somewhere to hide it and save it for later.

"Something bothering you Potter?"

Harry looked up from his desk into the face of the ex-auror.

"No, nothing." Harry shook his head. "Well…"

"Yes?"

"There is something I want to ask you, but after the lesson." Harry made himself look down and put a little catch in his voice. "If you're not too busy."

"Hmm." Moody scratched his chin. "Well, whatever it is it isn't keeping you from taking notes is it?"

Harry looked down at his page, it was empty except for a little ink drawing of a cottage.

"Would you believe invisible ink?"

"No."

"Didn't think so." Harry reached for his quill. After the lesson he stayed quiet, with his bag not even packed. The marauders already knew he had something planned and left him be but…

"You not leaving Harry?" Harry turned and saw Susan Bones paused near his desk.

"Getting an extra credit essay." Harry replied glibly.

"You? Doing an extra credit essay?" Disbelief radiated from the Hufflepuff. "You don't even do your normal essays."

"I do so."

"Without copying from Hermione."

"I-"

"Or Padma."

"Oh." Harry cocked his head and shrugged. "Does it really matter what I'm up to?"

"Just wondering what happens if the school champion is expelled."

"One of the school champions." Harry corrected. "The only human champion granted but still…"

"Oh no one in Hufflepuff believes Malfoy's really a champion." Susan rolled her eyes. "No one in Ravenclaw either. You didn't know that Harry? You're usually wired into the rumor mill of this school."

"I've had a lot on my mind." Harry conceded. He actually never listened to rumors, that was Parvarti's job and to a lesser extent Ron's. "The mill can run without me for a while."

"Of course." Susan nodded and moved off. She paused to say, "We are all rooting for you you know." Before turning towards the door.

Interesting. Harry smiled thoughtfully as he watched her walk away, his eyes drifting down a little. Very interesting. Why hadn't he noticed before how-

"Potter." Harry whipped his head around. Moody was looking at him shrewdly. "I know I said Constant Vigilance but…"

"Don't finish that sentence Professor." Harry grinned. "Unless you want me to start mentioning that most magic eyes can be made to see through clothing."

"I don't use that setting…" Moody replied gruffly, then winked. "…any more."

Harry laughed and a moment later was joined by his teacher.

"So," Moody, walked back to the teachers desk and motioned for Harry to sit nearby. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh yeah." Harry made his voice dip a little. "That."

Harry swallowed and took a deep breath.

"My parents."

"Ah." Moody shook his head ruefully. "Sad business Potter, very sad, but I'm not the one to talk to. I didn't know them before the war-"

"I don't want more anecdotes." Harry dilled up the aggression, it had to look like he had been stewing over this for a while. "Not more school stories. I want to know how they died, the whole story. Details."

"Why?" Moody asked bluntly. "Why do you want to hear about your parents murder?"

"Because it's something no one else seems prepared to talk about." Harry shook his head angrily. "You were an auror, you also knew them. Fair bet you examined the house right, investigated?" Harry knew Moody had been involved in the investigation, he left nothing to chance.

"Yes I did." See? "But I'm still not sure you want to know."

"I don't want to. I need to." Harry pleaded, putting a little iron into his voice. "It's a fair bet Voldemort's not done having an influence on my life. I need to know how it began."

Moody shook his head and grimaced.

"Don't know where to begin." He reached down and took a swig from his hip flask. Harry grinned.

"You can start with the goblet of fire."

"What?" Moody shook his head as if to clear it. His magic eye was rolling listlessly and the other looked milky and unfocussed. "The goblet?"

"Yes, did you put my name into it?" Harry asked, flatly.

"No." Moody answered in a flat tone. Harry closed his eyes, that meant he had made a mistake, which meant he was screwed.

"Did you get someone else to put my name in?" Harry asked desperately. "And where's your invisibility cloak."

"No, I do not know who put your name in the goblet of fire." Moody said, again with no emotion. "My cloak is in my chest, there." He pointed with one gnarled finger.

"Ok, that's not good. For me." Harry looked up at the clock. With the dose he gave the effect would only last a few more seconds. "Please don't kill me."

Moody just continued his faded stare, then he blinked and shook his head. Realization dawned in his eyes and Harry saw him grip his wand tightly. In a flash the ex-auror whipped it around and Harry felt ropes pin his arms to the chair.

"How did you do it?" The professor asked, coldly.

"Lifted the flask from your pocket. Put it back later in the lesson." Harry replied evenly. Being sorry wouldn't get him out of this, being earnest might. "Managed to break the spells you used on it too."

"That a fact." Moody reached out and emptied the flask onto the floor, the water sparkled in the light from the window. "And why did you do it?"

"I found out that the person who put my name in the goblet did it under the cover of an invisibility cloak." Harry crossed his arms. "They're uncommon, and you, the proud owner of two, had just come to Hogwarts. That seemed like too much of a coincidence."

"And what have you learnt?"

"It… was a coincidence." Harry conceded. "It wasn't you."

"What else?"

"Eh?" Harry was genuinely confused.

"What else?"

"Um… I don't know. Sir." Harry added.

"You always disarm someone when you're questioning them." Moody flicked his wand again and the ropes fell loose. "Even in they're potioned. That was sloppy Potter ,very sloppy. I'm disappointed in you."

Harry's jaw dropped.

"But… you mean… you're not mad?"

"Mad? No, no, no," Moody waved the question away. "You had suspicion you acted on it. I woulda done the same."

"But I got past your defenses, I could have poisoned you."

"Better you do it than one of my enemies, oh and by the way…" Moody smiled like a tiger, for once both eyes focused on Harry. "I'll need a six scroll essay on how you broke the spells on my flask."

"Six scrolls?"

"Make it ten."

"Eep."

"Don't worry Potter, it'll be over before you know it. Or in other words it'll be over tomorrow as that's when I'll be expecting the essay."

"Oh."

"On the plus side though Potter, I trust you now."

"_WHAT?_" Harry exploded, spluttering in disbelief. "I spike you and interrogate you and now you _trust me!?_"

"Yeah, well more than I did." Moody nodded.

"Why?" Harry asked aghast.

"You had me drugged and I'm still alive. Means I have proof you're not trying to kill me." Moody said this as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

"I was wrong." Harry shook his head in disbelief. "You're nuts. You're crazy. You're completely bloody gonzo."

"Yeah?" Moody leant in towards Harry's face. "Well so are you."

"Possible," Harry conceded. "I did once jump onto a moving train."

"Ha!" Moody snorted. "That's nothing. Try a moving dragon."

Harry laughed and shook his head, this had turned out alright after all.

"Eh?" Moody said, furrowing his brow. "Don't you have a lesson to get to."

"Yes, but it's creatures so I was actually marginally safer staying here and drugging you."

"Even so." Moody gestured at the door. "You'd best be going. Don't forget that essay."

Harry nodded and walked away from the desk. As he reached the door a thought struck him and he turned back.

"You didn't ask me there the potion came from."

"Oh I think I can guess." Moody grew serious.

"You're not happy?"

"Constant Vigilance Potter." Moody said "Keep your allies close-"

"-and my enemies closer." Harry rolled his eyes. "I know."

"That's not it at all!" Moody said with sudden heat. "Keep your allies close Potter, but watch them even closer."


	26. Spirit of Njordr: 3

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 3: Flames

Harry propped the book up in front of him and tried to make the words stay in one place rather than fading out and becoming one long boring blur.

"This, this is interesting Harry." Hermione yawned and pushed another book over too him. "It makes your skin all stiff so things can't hurt you." She yawned again and put her hand up to her mouth.

"Go to bed." Harry told her, sighing. "You don't have stay up with me, I'm the bloody champion."

"No Harry I like looking up… stuff…" Hermione yawned again, breaking up whatever she was going to say.

"Without knowing what the first task is it's pretty useless." Harry closed his book wearily and rested his chin on it. "And I know you consider breaking into the library tantamount to sacrilege."

"It's alright if it's for the tournament" Hermione rationalized. "Do you want me to get more books?"

"No, I want to give up." Harry shook his head. "Lets go back to the tower."

They packed their stuff and Harry spelled the lock on the library back closed. He was about to turn down the corridor when a light appeared near the other end and Harry pushed Hermione back into the library.

"Who is it?"

"No clue." Harry shrugged and closed the door quietly. He put his ear to it as the voices got closer. "Beaxbattons students I think."

"How do you know?"

"They're speaking French." Harry whispered as the light passed outside the door. "Talking about the first task."

"Ho… Wait you speak French?" Hermione whispered hoarsely.

"_You_ gave me the phrase books for my birthday."

"But I didn't think you'd actually use them!"

"You learn languages a lot quicker with wit sharpening potion. Had the basics down in under a week."

"That's cheating!" Hermione said, sounding scandalized.

"Did someone invent new rules while I was away?" Harry suddenly frowned. "That didn't sound like a student." Harry cracked the door and slinked out after the retreating voices.

"Ce n'est pas juste." Harry silenced his feet so he could move faster after the retreating voices and heard Hermione do the same behind him. "Nous devrions dire les autres concurrents!"

"That's Delacour." Hermione hissed into Harry's ear. She sounded oddly spiteful. "What's she saying?" But Harry waved her into silence as a huskier voice began speaking.

"La fraude fait partie des règles. Il toujours a été."

"Madam Maxim?" Harry guessed, Hermione nodded. "She's saying that cheating's part of the rules."

"I bet Fleur's going along with-"

"Fleur's arguing, but it sound like whatever it is it's already been done." Harry leant around a corner and jerked back as he saw the two French women stopped in the corridor beyond.

"Non!" Fleur was saying angrily. "Vous me forcez à choisir entre mes morales et mon école."

"She's not happy." Harry shook his head. "She thinks Maxim's forcing her to cheat."

"Puits que tu connais maintenant." The headmistress said matter-of-factly. "Ne tu inquiéteras pas à son sujet. Tu dois penser au dragon."

"Dragon?" Harry broke into a grin. He turned to Hermione. "See this is why I eavesdrop."

"Cheater." She smiled though.

"Tu as une stratégie?" Madam Maxim asked. "Tu pouvais le distraire. Tu-"

"Non!" Fleur drew herself up. "Je ferai le repos moi-même."

"Comme tu souhaites." Madam Maxim said and they began to walk back towards where the two marauders were hiding. Harry moved to walk into the corridor but Hermione grabbed him.

"Harry what are you doing?" She hissed angrily.

"Headgames!" Harry grinned evilly and stepped out in front of the two women. "So… dragons eh?"

Their jaws dropped.

"Thanks for the tip!" Harry grinned and winked at his fellow champion then turned to the French headmistress and with a grimace said, "Tu es un idiot et tu es un hypocrite. Tu accuses des Hogwarts de la fraude mais tu triches la toute première chance que tu obtiens."

"You little…!" Madam Maxime spluttered incoherently but Harry cut her off and switched to English.

"Well cheat all you want, doesn't matter. As you know now I am everywhere in this school. I will know if you cheat, I will know everything you do. So it all works out the same in the end." Harry turned back to the startled Miss Delacour. "Good luck with the dragon." And with that he turned and walked away.

Well, he walked until he reached the first corner, then he started to run.

"Potter?"

Sleepy.

"Potter!"

Ok, not sleepy anymore, just faking.

"Potter get up!" Harry jerked theatrically and raised his head off his desk to look at Professor McGonagall.

"Sleepy Professor," Harry grinned. "I stayed up late doing very important champion stuff."

It was actually true, he had indeed been spending every night researching ways to deal with large, enraged, fire breathing reptiles but he hadn't had much luck. Most of the books had the unhelpful assumption that you would be part of a team of wizards dealing with these creatures. If he could just find one that assumed you were a scared, short, fourteen year old who wasn't much good at defense against the dark arts or care of magical creatures he would be set.

"Well that doesn't get you out of concentrating on your lessons." She pointed at the crystal ball that he had transfigured part way from a tortoise. It still had legs and a tail and was blindly butting against Harry's transfiguration textbook. "Complete the transformation or at least turn it back into a tortoise, it is just cruel to leave it like this."

Harry shrugged and tried to finish the transfiguration. Two of the legs disappeared, and the poor thing balanced on the other two before toppling and almost rolled off the table before Ron caught it. McGonagall moved away muttering about 'champions' and 'idiots' using the same inflection for each.

"Well we can scratch transfig' off the dragon-taming possibilities." Harry accepted his tortoisphere back from his friend and tried idly to make the remaining limbs disappear.

"I could write to Charlie." Ron offered. He had managed to make a crystal tortoise that looked like it should be in some seaside gift shop.

"Don't, I'm cheating just by using you guys." Harry made the tail disappear and sighed. "I should just run in and start cursing it. Pain spear's worked before."

"You're not allowed to use dark magic Harry." Neville reminded him from his other side. "It's restricted by the rules of the tournament or something."

"And it probably wouldn't work." Ron cast the spell again and got a round ball of tortoise shell. "Dragon skin is-"

"Very, very thick. Also curse-proof." Harry interrupted. "I know." Harry slumped back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples, he had a stabbing headache from all the studying and late nights. If he propped his book up and fell asleep…

"Mr Potter!"

"I'm awake!" Harry shook his head. The class giggled.

"What I meant Mr Potter." McGonagall continued. "Is that you are needed in the third floor arithmancy classroom. Do you know where it is?"

Small slatted window that doesn't lock properly?

"I know it." Harry nodded. "What's this about?"

"Very important champion stuff." McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "Now."

Harry gathered his stuff and hurried out of the room. Since it was class time all the corridors were empty and Harry made it to the classroom without seeing anyone. Wondering what this could possibly be about he pushed the door open.

"Ah, Mr Potter. So good of you to join us." Mr Crouch had stood up when he entered. Dumbledore and the other Headmasters were also there, as was a witch in neon green robes he didn't recognize. She had a quill and paper out and looked like she was currently grilling Krum. The Bulgarian, for his part, seemed resigned to this and was answering her monosyllabically. Fleur and Malfoy were no where to be found.

"What an I joining you for?" Harry asked. "If it's a party then you'll need more nibbles. I skipped lunch."

"This is the weighing of the wands ceremony." Mr Crouch said calmly, ignoring Harry's flippancy. "Don't worry it's mostly a formality."

Wand weighing? Harry took out his wand, it looked alright. A bit scuffed here and there but then so was he. Harry heard the door open and turned,

"What is this?" Malfoy stood in the doorway with his bag. "Why was I called?"

"Just the wei-" Dumbledore began but was interrupted by the green robed witch.

"Mr Malfoy," She stood and held out a hand in one motion. "Rita Skeeter. Pleasure to meet you, if I could just-"

"My father has a several very good lawyers." Malfoy interrupted her suddenly. "So if you print anything libelous…"

"Mr Malfoy," Rita Skeeter held her hands to her chest as if she had been hurt. "You insult me, the people want to hear from their champion. Champions." She added, glancing at Harry with a crocodile-smile.

Scanning for insincerity: Insincerity detected.

Harry contorted his face into a worried smile.

"If I could borrow the both of you for a moment." Skeeter pushed them both back out the door and into the classroom opposite. "There now, that's more comfortable. None of those old judges and officials."

"Everything she says is a lie." Harry thought to himself. "And you had better watch what you say too."

"Do you mind if I use a quick quotes quill?"

"Yes." Malfoy said at the same time as Harry said,

"No." Harry noticed that Malfoy was looking slightly worried so followed up with, "I mean 'no don't use it.'"

"Oh," The reporter looked disappointed, then brightened up slightly. "I hear you two have a little rivalry going." Harry opened his mouth but Malfoy answered before he could speak.

"I wouldn't call me beating him at every class a competition."

"Whatever." Harry shrugged.

"You're not going to argue Potter?" Malfoy sneered at him.

"Nah, make up any lie you want." Harry shrugged again. "That's what she's gonna do."

"Well Mr Potter," Rita Skeeter asked smoothly. "Do you think you, a mere twelve year old, can succeed in this competition that has clamed the lives of wizards older and wiser than you."

"I don't know." Harry scratched his head. "The fact that I intend to cheat outrageously may help."

"You…" Rita Skeeter's eye's lit up. "You're going to cheat?"

"I already have!" Harry replied happily. "Say, do you think that Karkarov guy's open to bribes? He looks like a man who enjoys the finer things."

"Potter…" Malfoy hissed from between clenched teeth but Harry ignored him.

"Of course It'll be easy to bribe him using all the stolen property that I own. Would you like a diamond necklace?"

Rita's quill was moving so fast she was tearing the paper.

"I can always obtain more through my extensive criminal contacts."

"Potter stop now you id-" Harry winked at Malfoy, shutting him up.

"Of course my primary pastime remains kitten-smashing." At Skeeter's shocked face he continued. "Yes, kitten-smashing. It's kind of like a sport, you use a special club. Baby seals as well, and cute little chipmunks. Deer, ostriches, endangered marmosets, ponies, dolphins that sort of thing."

"Mr Potter…" The reporter's eyes narrowed.

"What?" Harry grinned. "If you're going to make up lies about me they might as well be entertaining. How about saying I'm a vampire or a Nazi or that I have two heads and one of them speaks fluent Italian."

"Don't play this game with me Mr Potter." Rita Skeeter tapped her quill against her quill against her notepad. "You won't win."

"Yes I will." Harry smiled. "Marauders always do, in the end."

"Am I interrupting?" Their three heads turned to see Barty Crouch in the doorway. "We're ready for you now."

Harry smiled and wandered out off the room, leaving the startled reporter behind. As he walked back into the arithmancy classroom he noticed that two more people had arrived. Fleur Delacour he was expecting, the other was more of a surprise.

"Mr Ollivander?"

"Mr Potter, so good to see you again." The old man looked the same as he had on the day, four years ago, that Harry had bought his wand. He wasn't acting as oddly however.

"You're doing the wand weighing?" Harry guessed.

"I am Mr Potter, I am." He held out his hand and Harry grudgingly surrendered his wand. As soon as it left his hand he found himself feeling paranoid, almost naked. He kept eyeing up bits of furniture for their potential as weapons should someone attack him.

"Your… this wand seems to work quite adequately." Mr Ollivander said slowly, looping a long golden ribbon out of the tip. "Of course, if you were in the market for another…"

"No." Harry shook his head before the wand maker could once again try to force a different wand on him as he had at their first meeting. "That one's served me pretty good. I'll stick with it if you don't mind."

"Very well." Ollivander shook his head and handed the wand back. "I don't understand it but…" He spread his hands and shrugged.

Everyone else in the room kept shooting Harry odd looks for the remainder of the wand weighing, everyone except Dumbledore.

As Harry was walking away from the weighing when he heard a voice behind him.

"Do you have a moment Mr Potter?" Harry turned to see Barty Crouch. "If I were you I would not underestimate Ms Skeeter."

"I don't underestimate her, she overestimates herself."

"Perhaps so." The judge nodded. "But she has the potential to cause you real harm."

"No she doesn't." Harry interjected. "Sticks and stones and all that, I've survived worse than bad press."

"I am worried about you Mr Potter." Mr Crouch moved up to stand next to Harry. "There is more than one reason we increased the age limit on entry to the tournament. I fear you are too young to stand up to the scrutiny."

"Me? Harry boy-who-lived Potter?"

"Ah, yes." Mr Crouch chuckled a little. "Perhaps you are right on that score, but nevertheless a certain level of maturity is expected, even necessary, and I worry that perhaps you do not have it."

"I'll hold my end." Harry said, vaguely insulted.

"Do you feel adequately physically and mentally prepared for the first task?" Harry thought that an odd question, but answered anyway.

"No, not entirely."

"Well I can't give you advice of course." The older man nodded. "Just remember that no one is expecting you to win. Just by doing well you will have exceeded everyone's expectation."

"And by winning I'll exceed them even more, and win some money!"

"Just take it slow," Mr Crouch told him. "A respectable score is better than being injured so you cannot compete."

"The only respectable score _is_ winning." Harry grinned like a tiger.

Harry woke lazily the next day and ignored the sounds of people going down to breakfast. This weekend had been a long tome coming and he was going to enjoy it.

On the way down to breakfast though he got an odd foreboding feeling. His suspicions were confirmed when he walked into the great hall and all conversation ceased. Harry walked down the Gryffindor table to his friends in total silence and sat down in the empty seat they had left for him.

"Explanation?" Harry asked quietly, the room was still almost deathly silent.

"Um, we think Malfoy may have talked to Rita Skeeter after you left." Hermione was holding a newspaper nervously, kneading the paper with he hands. "He said some things and they printed some things…"

"Give it here." Harry reached out and grabbed the paper. He quickly scanned down the text…

_… fellow champion Drako Malfoy says that everyone in Hogwarts knows they're just afraid to say anything. "He hides it but everyone knows. I mean that's why he's so short and weedy." The hansom sixteen year old said "And it explains the hair." This reporter has seen evidence to support these arguments and can reveal to you now the truth about Harriet Potter…_

Harry burst out laughing. In the utterly silent great hall it sounded extra loud as Harry guffawed in great breathy gulps.

"_Harriet Potter!_" Harry dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"It's not funny Harry." Hermione said.

"Yes it is! Look, they've even doctored a picture of me." Harry pointed. "I've got long hair and breasts and everything… Actually I don't look half bad… But come on no one's gonna believe this."

"You never know Harry." Ginny said from the other side. "People tend to trust the Daily Prophet."

Harry had a thought and grinned. Without a word he stepped up onto the bench then up onto the Gryffindor table.

"Attention Hogwarts!" Harry yelled, he felt all eyes come to land on him. "By now most of you will have read the Daily Prophet, or have heard about it from someone. And unless you're deaf you've heard how I regard these rumors. I have just two things to say, any guy who doubts me can get kicked in the face (don't laugh I know where you all sleep). And for any girl who doubts I'm male a demonstration can be arrang-"

"MR POTTER!" The school giggled as McGonagall stood from her place at the high table. "My office! Now!"

"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week." Harry sauntered out of the hall, waving at the laughing crowd as he went. The last thing he saw before he left was the dark look of murder on Malfoy's face and decided to rub salt in the wound. "And Draco next time you try to attack me think of things that would hurt me not that would have hurt you. You care about reputation. Me? I don't give a crap what anyone thinks!"

"MR POTTER!"

"I'm going I'm going." Harry grinned and walked out. The students laughed again, some even cheered.

The prophet was forced to print a retraction the next day after hundreds of people wrote in to complain. Unfortunately Harry didn't have time to savor the victory as the first task drew closer and closer.

"I'm screwed." Harry slid another book back into the library bookcase and looked along the shelf for other dragon related books. "I am royally screwed."

It was the day before the first task and Harry had made an executive decision to ignore all his lessons that day. His time could be far better used and he figured his teachers wouldn't mind, or wouldn't find out till too late.

Harry sighed. Or maybe they would and he'd be thrown out of the competition and saved the indignity of being roasted alive in front of the entire school.

He had nothing. Not one idea.

"I should just rush in." Harry thought, shaking his head. "Start cursing, worked with the basilisk."

"Yes," Said a little snide part of his mind. "But the basilisk almost killed you."

Harry took down another book only to realize he had already read it and slammed it back into the bookshelf in anger.

"Problems Miss Potter?" Harry heard the snide drawling voice and sagged tiredly.

"None Daisy Mayflower." He turned to Malfoy and crossed his arms. "Shouldn't you be in lessons?"

"Last class ended half an hour ago." Malfoy shot back condescendingly.

Harry felt his heart droop. He had thought he had more time than that, he must have lost track. He caught sight of the book in Malfoy's hand and his eyes flickered to the conspicuous gap in the shelf next to him. He saw the Slytherin's cold grey pair match him.

"How did you find out?" Harry asked levelly.

"Find out what?"

"About the dragons Malfoy. Don't play games."

Malfoy smiled.

"My father noticed that the ministry was putting licenses through for dragon handling equipment and dragon handlers and dragons."

"That is damming evidence." Harry shrugged. "Got a strategy?"

"Like I'd tell you." Malfoy scoffed. "A little dragon doesn't bother me."

"You almost sound like you mean that." Harry pretended to shift weight while actually bringing his wand around to bear. "Lets see… _Legillimens!_"

It was like hitting a rubber wall. Harry felt his mental probe rebound off an Occlumency barrier like a tennis ball off a tank and had barely a second to compose himself before the counter attack hit his mind like a pneumatic drill.

"What the hell?!" Harry blanked his mind before any memories floated up. After a moment the drill receded.

"_How dare you half-blood!_" Malfoy spat at him. "Don't even think of trying that again. You're obviously an amateur compared to me. Just like you are at everything else."

"Getting lessons from daddy are we?" Harry kept his wand trained in case of another attack.

"I've been an Occlumens since I was eight Potter." Malfoy said through gritted teeth. "Don't try to get into my mind, the very thought disgusts me. Even after a failed attempt I feel like bathing."

"I'm shocked you know what a bath is Daisy." Harry shot back. "We all thought you just-"

"SHUT UP! Just because the Prophet printed a retraction doesn't mean you've won!" Malfy cracked, raising his wand. "So don't joke don't make snide comments, you are still going down. This tournament may be a joke to you but some of us care about preserving the honor of their names." Malfoy shook his head fiercely and lowered his wand a fraction.

"You won't win Potter. You might as well quit now." Malfoy sneered at him. "It's a dragon, you can't trick it or lie to it or prank it or sneak your way past it. You can't win. Just give up Potter, while you still can."

Malfoy turned and strode away, disappearing between the shelves. But Harry had begun to grin.

"Why the hell not?"

Harry mustered together every ounce of arrogance and cool he had to keep himself walking forward towards the pavilion that had been erected near the edge of the forest. He glanced to his right and saw Malfoy coming up from another direction, surrounded by a crowd of Slytherins. Some of them were wearing badges bearing Malfoy's smirking face.

Harry reached the tent and swallowed hard before entering.

"Glad you could join us Mr Potter." Barty Crouch greeted him with a smile. The other champions were already there. Krum was sitting stoically, staring straight forward. Fleur looked green and had one hand pressed to her stomach. "Nervous?"

YES! Of course I'm bloody nervous! I'm about-

"No, no sir." Harry answered out loud. "I think I've got it covered." He even managed it without his voice quavering.

"Ah and you are here too Mr Malfoy." Crouch said as Malfoy barged in through the curtain. "Then let us get started." He reached over and picked up a small bag. Harry noticed with a gulp that it was squirming.

"The task once you enter the stadium is to retrieve a golden egg from its guardian." Crouch explained in his dry bureaucratic voice. "Inside this bag are four statutes. You will each take one from the bag, at random. The statue should tell you both what this guardian is and will also have a number on it representing the order you will go in."

And first to the gallows will be…

"Miss Delacour…" Crouch held out the bag and the French girl put her hand in tentatively. She drew it out and revealed a small blue dragon statue, currently gnawing on her thumb. "The Swedish short snout."

Fleur looked at the little thing in her hand then raised her chin in determination. But Harry saw a trace of panic in her eyes.

"Looks almost cute." Harry commented, looking at the dragon. "Face looks kind of like a squirrel."

Fleur glanced again at the thing in her hand then looked at Harry in disbelief.

"Well… a bit." Harry grinned and saw a half smile in return.

"Mr Krum." Crouch hurried them along. The Bulgarian stuck his hand into the bag and drew out a long red-gold dragon, dangling it by its tail. "The Chinese Firebolt."

Krums expression didn't change, if anything it just became stonier.

"That's a weasel." Harry pronounced definitely (babbling so he wouldn't hit a total nervous breakdown). "A Squirrel and a Weasel."

"Mr Malfoy." Crouch held the bag out again and Malfoy carefully removed a sleek looking black dragon. "A Hebridean Black Mr Malfoy."

Malfoy seemed to be trying to keep his face ridged and unemotional, he was taking deep breaths through his nose.

"And you Harry." Crouch held out the bag and Harry reached in quickly and grabbed the last squirming statue. He held it in his fist as he brought it out, said a silent prayer to anyone listening, then opened his hand.

"The Hungarian Horntail." Mr Crouch pronounced tonelessly.

Harry closed his hand again and pumped his fist into the air.

"YES!"

The three other champions were looking at him like he was crazy.

"Mr Potter," Crouch spluttered. "You do know about that type of dragon don't you?"

"Read about 'em, yep." Harry nodded.

"And you're happy?"

"Yep."

"Potter you're insane." Malfoy said icily.

"Yep."

"Well…" Mr Crouch seemed a little flustered but motioned Malfoy towards the exit to the tent.

Harry watched them leave and took a deep breath. He sat down cross legged on the packed earth and leant back against a tent pole.

"You are very confident." Krum said in his heavily accented voice.

"I'm not worried." Harry said as he heard his racing heart beating in his ears.

Harry tried to blank out the sound of the crowd outside and the comments of the commentators. He tried to breath deeply so as to quiet his nerves. It didn't work.

"Mr Krum if you please!" Harry heard the whistle and wished Krum good luck as he walked out of the tent.

More minutes of growling and huffing passed and Fleur began pacing the floor worriedly.

"It'll be alright." Harry told her as the crowd quieted down and the scores were put up. "You got the easy dragon."

"Easi_er_." She replied without looking up.

"Just think of it as a giant fire-breathing squirrel."

"'Ow can you be so calm!" She said to him angrily. "'Ow can you joke about zis!"

"I joke about everything."

The whistle blew a moment later and Fleur was gone too, gone to face the dragon. Harry got up and began pacing himself. He gripped his wand and began rehearsing what he would do again.

Nothing could possibly go wrong.

What the hell? _Everything_ could go wrong!

Harry squeezed his eyes shut as he heard the whistle sound. He couldn't do this.

"And the last champion, HARRY POTTER!" The voice cried over the loudspeaker.

Professor McGonagall, like everyone else in the crowd, looked towards the tent. A gust of wind flapped the edges of the canvas. No one came out.

"Um… Mr Potter?"

No one came.

That poor boy. She shook her head, this had obviously been too much for him. The crowd had begun whispering now.

"Do you wish to go down there Albus, Or shall I?" She turned to the Headmaster, who was oddly smiling. "One of us will have to find him."

"Oh I know exactly where he is." Dumbledore chuckled.

"You see it too?" Moody cackled from the row below. "Damn kid's got nerve I'll give him that."

"What are you talking about Allastor? Albus?" Minerva looked from one to the other confused.

"Barty Crouch told me that Harry was oddly happy to receive the Horntail." Dumbledore smiled. "I did not quite understand that until now. The horntail is the most fearsome dragon in the world, but it's eyesight is quite poor."

Understanding dawned in Minerva McGonagall's mind and she turned to scan the arena once more. After a moment she saw it. A small, human shaped lump, perfectly camouflaged against the sand behind it, shimmering as it edged towards the dragon.

Harry shifted a hair closer. He had silenced his feet to get rid of his footfalls but there was still the risk of something shifting or crunching. He could hear members of the crowd beginning to laugh now, he didn't care. They'd know the truth when he snagged the egg right out from under the belly of the thing. And besides, the more noise they made the better.

The Horntail suddenly shifted, raising it's nose high. Harry froze in a crouch. It sniffed the air.

Damn! Harry froze. He had hoped that by keeping the wind in his face would have kept his smell from the beast. Apparently not, that meant he would have to cast a spell, which would agitate the thing and reveal his location. But it would find him anyway if he didn't. Too bad he didn't know non-verbal magic.

Harry drew his wand and tensed his legs. The Disillusionment charm worked best when you stayed still but it wasn't perfect even then. The dragon would see through it once it got a clue where to look. He would have to move _the instant_ he cast or he would be crispy-fried.

Harry took a deep breath and yelled,

"_Avgo Sapios!_" The cloud of green smoke gushed out of his wand and smacked the dragon on the snout but Harry was already throwing himself sideways and rolling to a crouch on the floor.

Which was lucky because a moment later the sand where he had been standing was reduced to a white-hot sheet. The dragon swept its lance of flame across the arena, passing just feet in front of Harry's face. Harry saw the sand steam and cool from blue-white to red, then to a duller, glassy, finish. A scar across the land. Harry forced himself to breath again, shallowly.

He moved his head slowly to look at the dragon, it was shaking its head from side to side as if to dislodge the foul smell that had taken up residence in its nostrils.

When Harry was sure it was looking the other way he hopped over the burnt swath and crouched down on the other side. A gasp went up from the crowd, they must have seen him when he passed over the burnt patch.

"Don't get it agitated." Harry thought desperately as he inched closer. "Just keep quiet."

"HEY DRAGON!"

Bugger.

Harry rolled to the side in panic as the dragon gouged another flaming scar across the sand. He realized belatedly that the downside of choosing to approach the dragon from downwind was that it put the Slytherin stands at his back.

"OVER HERE!"

Harry ducked as a fireball flew over his head. He risked a glance back to see it impact on a shield. The stands seemed to quiet down a bit, perhaps realizing the idiocy of attracting the attention of an angry dragon.

Harry inched forward again and had to duck as it's spiked tail whipped through the air. He could see the egg now, glimmering in among some duller ones. Harry crawled silently up near the dragons side and looked up. The wall of the great reptile's body gave way to the massive shading canopy of it's wing. He was right up next to it now. If he screwed up it would step on him.

Harry reached into the little gap between the floor and the shifting belly of the Horntail. His fingers curled around the golden egg. He twisted it and brought it out horizontal, making sure not to touch the dragon. Like that game, what was it called… operation! Except with his life on the line.

Harry held his breath as the egg finally saw the light of day and swiftly stuffed it under his t-shirt so it would be camouflaged. He slid backwards slowly then froze as the dragon stood and shifted. Harry followed it's gaze and saw a dozen keepers approaching.

"No!" Harry thought. "They're not that stupid! Please NO!"

"_Stupify!_"

"AAaaaa!" Harry screamed and threw himself backward as the dragon collapsed right onto the ground where he had been crouching. A moment later he was driven to the floor as its wing crumpled on top of him. Harry crawled out from under the leathery blanket, forced himself to stand on legs that wanted to crumple like plastic straws and stumbled towards the dragon keepers.

"What the hell…" Harry growled. "Was the big idea of dropping the dragon on me when I'm still bloody under it!"

"Sorry Harry." The red-head at the front of them shrugged. "You're kind of hard to see."

Harry looked down, he was still Disillusioned. Harry raised his aching arm and tapped himself on the head with the tip of his wand.

"_Khamaileon akyrono._" He felt the warm dribbles down his head painfully slowly. They stopped before they even reached his stomach. "Oh great…" Harry sagged his half-visible body.

"Let me Potter." Harry flinched as someone tapped him from behind. He turned and looked up at the scarred face of Mad Eye Moody.

"I got it to go on in one go." Harry explained, swaying a little. He was bruised on every side and his left arm didn't want to bend properly. He turned and saw McGonagall approaching from the stands and tried to stand a little straighter.

"Potter, are you hurt?" She said, an edge of concern tingeing her voice. Harry raised his left arm. "Excellent! You'll get more points for being uninjured."

Harry swiftly jerked his arm back down and brushed the dirt off the front of his robes. Mad Eye leant down and whispered into his ear,

"Arm broke Potter?"

"No, just hurts like hell." Harry breathed back. He eased it into his pocket, wincing slightly. "Maybe fractured."

"You gonna tell them?"

"Hell no!"

Harry held hard to the handrail as he walked towards the marauders. He was surrounded by cheers, people kept slapping him on the back (painfully)

"That was awesome Harry!" Harry heard someone yell and waved back, smiling wanly. He managed to make it to the free seat by the marauders and sat down.

"That really was awesome." Ron said from his left. "I mean we couldn't even see-"

"Yes that was the point." Harry joked. "Sort of the point of invisibility."

"That was really good you know Harry." Hermione said from behind him. "Much better than Malfoy."

"That's a given." Harry grinned. "What did he do?"

"Made some kind of mirror out of mist." Padma shrugged as if to say _'no big deal'_. "Made the dragon fight it's own reflection."

"Did it work?"

"Until he got close to the eggs." Padma grinned evilly. "Then it caught on and flamed him. He only just got the egg. They gave him thirty points."

"Deserved two." Ron muttered angrily.

Harry shrugged, then winced as a stab of pain shot through his arm. The crowd fell silent, Harry looked up towards the judges box. Madam Maxim raised her wand, after a moment a sinuous five sprung out.

"Passive aggressive revenge bitch." Harry growled.

Next Crouch nodded thoughtfully and tapped a nine into the air.

"That's more close to awesomeness."

Next the heavyset judge Harry didn't know raised his wand with a flourish and painted an eight. A moment later Dumbledore raised an identical eight.

"Better…"

Karkaroff seemed to think for a moment, then drew a three in the air.

"Blatant undisguised favoritism." Harry narrowed his eyes. "It's like bloody Eurovision."

"Thirty three." Neville said, counting on his fingers. "Is that good?"

"It should have been higher!" Ginny said angrily. "You were the only champion not injured!"

"Yeah…" Harry tried not to think of what mark he would have got if they had known about his arm.

"It must have been how long you took/" Hermione said reasonably. "You were slower than the others."

"You beat Malfoy though!" Parvarti said cheerily (ignoring Ron as he turned on Hermione and began arguing). "And Fleur."

"Krum?"

"Got forty."

"Bugger. I'll get him next time." Harry felt his bruised and aching arm. "You see if I don't!"

"So let me get this straight Harry." Madam Pomfrey sighed, "You beat the dragon…."

"Yes."

"Left the stadium."

"Yes"

"Then on the way back to Gryffindor tower…"

"Yes."

"You _happened_ to fall down a flight of stairs."

"Yes."

"_Seriously_ Harry?"

"That's my story." Harry grinned. "I'm sticking to it."

* * *

Translations (I think)

"Ce n'est pas juste. Nous devrions dire les autres concurrents!"  
This is not right. We should tell the other competitors!

"La fraude fait partie des règles. Il toujours a été."  
Cheating is part of the rules. It always has been.

"Non! Vous me forcez à choisir entre mes morales et mon école."  
No! You force me to choose between my morals and my school

"Puits que tu connais main tenant. Ne tu inquiéteras pas à son sujet. Tu dois penser au dragon."  
Well you know now. You will not worry about it. You must think of the dragon.

"Tu as une stratégie? Tu pouvais le distraire. Tu-"  
You have a strategy? You could distract it. You

"Non! Je ferai le repos moi-même."  
Not! I will do the rest myself.

"Comme tu souhaites."  
As you wish.

"Tu es un idiot et tu es un hypocrite. Tu accuses des Hogwarts de la fraude mais tu triches la toute première chance que tu obtiens."  
You are an idiot and you are a hypocrite. You accuse Hogwarts of fraud but you cheat the very first chance that you get.


	27. Spirit of Njordr: 4

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 4: Girl Trouble

"Shut that bloody thing off Harry!" Ron yelled over the screaming.

"Alright, alright." Harry snapped the egg shut and the inhuman screeching ceased as it always did. "Just trying to work the thing out."

"Well can you not do it in our bedroom." Ron grumped, rolling out of bed. Harry chuckled and replaced the egg on his nightstand. "Have you at least found out something?"

"There's nothing to find." Harry shook his head irritably. "I've run every detection I know on it, there's no release or password, nothing else magical on it at all. The scream isn't cover for something or a defense. The scream is the message, I just have to decode it somehow. Unless the whole thing's a braincrank."

"A trick?" Neville translated, sitting up in bed. "You think it really could be?"

"Doubt it. Too elaborate." Harry shrugged. "Guess I just have to do more things to it."

"Tried kicking it?" Ron suggested.

"'Course, that was the first thing I tried."

"Maybe that's why you can't find anything now." Neville said, frowning. "You broke it."

"Doubt it," Harry sighed. "I have reports that inhuman screams have been heard from the boat the carriage and the Slytherin dungeon as well. I'm not the only one stumped."

"That's something." Neville said encouragingly. "You'll work it out eventually."

"Maybe…" Harry wasn't so sure. He had needed a Hogwarts founder to help him solve his last puzzle. He dismissed it from his thoughts for another morning. "You think the girls are waiting for us at breakfast?"

"Probably." Ron groaned, and stomped off towards the bathroom.

Eventually the three of them managed to get down to breakfast. Just in time for the mail run. Harry caught Digger on his wrist and was feeding him a piece of bacon when he was surprised by a letter falling into his lap.

"You got a letter?" Hermione leant over curiously. "Who's it from?"

"I don't know…" Harry began but his eyes narrowed as he recognized the acid green ink. "But I suspect."

He tore open the letter and read the pale lettering.

_To The-Boy-Who-Thinks-He's-Won_

Well we'll see about that Harry. Don't think that just because I had to print a retraction you've won. Don't think that for a moment. I have been very busy digging up dirt on you and your fellow champion and you won't like what I've found. You will regret insulting me Harry Potter, I can bury you! And I will, you just watch!

Bests Rita Skeeter.

Harry tore the letter up and sighed.

"Rita Skeeter." He answered. "She's going to cause a lot of trouble for me I can tell."

"I seriously doubt that." Padma commented dryly from over the top of the Prophet.

"Why?"

"She's dead."

"What!?"

Padma offered him the newspaper and Harry grabbed it hurriedly. The obituary was quite large and, befitting the woman it was about, full of exaggerations. Once Harry had scanned it once or twice he had gleaned the actual information out of it. Apparently she had been found in her home by her boss after not showing up for work on Monday. The Aurors had been called in, official cause of death…

"Heart attack?" Harry said incredulously, Padma nodded. "That's bull! She was… I don't know… _maybe_ thirty five years old."

"She had a very stressful job." Padma shrugged.

"Or maybe it was karma." Ron said through a mouthful of toast. Hermione looked torn between being disgust at his manners and impressed that he knew what karma was.

"I think it's good riddance." Ginny cut in emphatically.

"I think it's fishy." Harry folded the paper and handed it back. "God knows the woman must have made enough enemies."

"Maybe it was one of you're fan club." Ginny joked.

"My fan club doesn't have a militant wing." Harry paused. "That I know of…"

"Could be useful."

"True, my own army…" Harry grinned. "I could rule the world!"

"Maybe," Hermione rolled her eyes. "But after transfiguration."

Harry decided to actually work that lesson. It was something he did occasionally, just to throw his teachers off the scent. They were still working on the tortoise to orb and most of the class could do it now. Harry's orb still had a bit of a hexagon pattern but it wasn't bad.

"Mr Potter." McGonagall said suddenly.

"Yes Professor?" Harry said, confused. He hadn't done anything lately she would be interested in. "What is it?"

"I was simply going to ask if you had acquired a partner yet. Since you are opening you will be representing the school. Try to reflect well on us."

"Partner? Opening? Representing?" Harry's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"The Yule Ball Potter." McGonagall said simply. Most of the class was watching now. "As champion you will be opening."

"You mean… Dancing?" Harry cringed.

"Yes."

"Alone?"

"With a partner." McGonagall replied in exasperation.

"In front of the school?" Harry felt his stomach swoop.

"Yes."

"I think I'll pass."

"Potter you are the… one of the Hogwarts champions. You must open the dance and you must have a partner."

"What? You gonna tie me up and force me to dance?"

"We have ways." McGonagall said, her eyes narrowing.

"I'll just turn up without a partner." Harry countered.

"In that case I will accompany you Mr Potter."

"You do that…" Harry crossed his arms. "And I will go to the ball naked."

The classroom burst out laughing.

"As will I."

The room became deathly silent. Harry nodded slowly.

"Touché, nicely argued." He complemented. "And I'll have a partner by the end of the day."

Harry wandered down the to the lower floors of Hogwarts that evening and found the kitchens corridor. Glancing around for a moment he approached the still-life.

"_Stoic._" Harry said, and the painting dissolved into the air. Harry stepped in and spoke the password again to close the portal. He stepped into the Hufflepuff common room. It looked different than he remembered, probably the lack of snakes… and fire. Several people started looking at him, then more, then every eye in the place turned to him as he strolled across the cellar. He did the natural thing. He ignored them.

He walked calmly over to the set of couches where the Susan Bones was sitting.

"Hey Susan." He smiled in greeting.

"Hi. Um…" She scratched her head. "How did you get in here?"

"Password."

"But how did you _know_ the password."

"I know all the passwords." Harry shrugged. "Slytherin's is privilege. Ravenclaw's is… complicated. The prefect bathroom's still pine fresh and Dumbledore's office is Chocoballs… for some reason."

"But… How?" Susan asked aghast. Harry realized that most of the common room was listening.

"You were a chosen." Harry winked. "Not a marauder. Don't expect me to reveal all my secrets."

The room sighed and Harry felt eyes move away from him.

"So… why are you down here?" Susan asked. "Are we under attack by snakes again?"

"Not that I know of." Harry glanced under the table. "Nope, nothing."

"So what are you here for?"

"What? I can't just visit?" Harry grinned.

"Hufflepuff or me?"

"Currently… you." Harry grinned again. "There's this dance… thing… at Christmas."

"The Yule Ball." Susan's eyes widened.

"Yeah that." Harry shrugged. "Apparently I need a partner on account of being some sort of champion type thing."

"Are you asking me?"

"Do I need to be more obvious?"

"Yes."

"Yes I'm asking you."

"Then…" Susan swallowed nervously. "…yes?"

"Was that a question?" Harry sniped, smiling..

"Fine. Yes I'll go with you."

"Capital. That's great." Harry grinned. "But I should go now. People are staring at me."

"Well you _are_ a celebrity."

"It's a burden I have to bear."

In the next few weeks Harry was extremely glad he had got it out of the way earlier. In the next few weeks a veritable craze of ball fever swept Hogwarts. Girls huddling in corners, whispering. Discussion of dress robes. Identical looks of fear and dread and cold, sick, nervousness on the face of every boy. Harry was glad to be well out of it.

Course he would be gladder if everyone else had got the memo…

"Leave me alone!" Harry slid into a secret passage and bounded along the short passage. "I'm taken!" He could still hear pounding feet and giggling behind him. He shot out from behind a tapestry (startling a group of students) and cracked open another passage behind a painting. He closed it behind him and leant against the wall, breathing heavily, as the following girls ran past. As the sounds faded into the distance he breathed a sigh of relief.

"You too yes?" Harry spun around but relaxed as he saw Viktor Krum sitting cross legged on the floor in the passageway. He had a set of books spread out in front of him. The Bulgarian shrugged and continued. "You vill get used to it. Or you vill become quicker at running."

"And you're used to it?" Harry grinned and sat down opposite the Durmstrum champion. "Then why are you hiding in a passageway."

"It is only vay to get a moment of peace." Krum flicked a page and continued reading. After a moment he glanced up. "You did well vith the Horntail."

"Not as good as you. Thirty three points."

"You should not have… irritated… the she-giant." A smile flickered onto Krum's face.

"Possibly not." Harry conceded. "You worked out the egg yet."

"Perhaps." Krum replied, revealing nothing. "Have you?"

"Perhaps." Harry grinned. "I worked out that kicking it doesn't work."

"First thing I tried."

"Me too." Harry walked back up to the door and listened, it sounded pretty quiet. "How long you intending to stay in here."

"I don't know. Vhen is your Yule Ball?" Krum shook his head and sighed. "I should ask someone. Pick someone that has not been asked yet. Perhaps that will make them stop foll-"

"It doesn't." Harry interrupted. "Trust me."

"Oh…" Krum shook his head. "Then I will have to research some better locking charms for my cabin."

"Try these." Harry pulled _beyond allohamora_ out of his bag (it sometimes helped to have a bag in which he could carry everything he owned). "It mostly deals with unlocking but it's got some quality stuff in there."

"Thank you." Krum nodded solemnly and looked back down at his books. Harry checked the entrance once more then left carefully.

"What is it about me?" Harry wondered idly. "That lets me get on with the champions but royally pisses off the judges?"

"Damn it!" Harry dropped the egg back to the surface of the marauders table. The inky black goo he had smeared on its surface had revealed nothing. "Doesn't work either. It was supposed to reveal secret messages."

"That thing doesn't have a secret message." Ron groaned on the other side of the table. "It has one message. And we've all heard it lots of times, like at the crack of dawn."

"Eight is not the crack of dawn." Harry sighed and rested his head on his hands. "And I don't see you doing much better."

"It was working before you got here." Ron complained, prodding at the crystal ball in front of him. "Maybe the egg did some thing to it!"

"Or maybe you've got it upside down." Parvati commented from the other side of the table. Ron groaned and scrunched up his bit of parchment.

Harry would have made a snide comment but he didn't think he had the energy. The egg was eating at him.

"Ron…" Parvati continued. "You really need to do it soon."

"Do what?"

"Ask someone." She shook her head. "You really need to do it soon or she'll be… I mean all the good girls'll be taken." Parvati amended quickly with a wink at Harry.

Ron (oblivious) squirmed uncomfortably.

"It's not that easy." Ron shrugged. "I'm not Harry, I can't just wander into someone's common room and ask someone."

"But you-" Parvati began but Harry interrupted her.

"Wait wait wait. Did I just hear a marauder express… self… doubt…?" Harry shied away in horror. "No no no no no! This will not do!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Harry cut him off. "You are a marauder, that means you are at least six billion times better than anyone else. You will go out and ask Herm… the girl you want to go with. Right now! Or I will call in a personal favor from Viktor Krum and have him ask her first!"

"You don't even know who I'm-"

"Legillimacy." Harry lied.

"That's illegal."

"Since when have I cared? Ask her."

"That's cruel."

"Ditto. Ask her."

"Harry-"

"She'll say yes." Harry grinned. "Trust me."

"Are you sure?" Ron looked almost convinced.

"Yes." Harry looked to Parvati for backup and she nodded emphatically. "Definitely yes."

Ron nervously folded his work unto his bag and left the common room. Harry checked the clock on the wall.

"Five thirty so Hermione will be coming back from the library… Give 'em ten minutes." Harry and Parvati shared a grin and went back to their respective work.

Ron was in fact back in less than five minutes.

"She said yes!" He was blushing tomato red but grinning.

"Congratulations." Harry shrugged. "Surprised you found her so quick."

"She was in the great hall. Lavender's usually down to dinner early."

"La… Lavender…" Harry froze. Across from him he say Parvarti's face twist into a grimace of shock and surprise. "Lavender Brown?"

"Yes?" Ron's brow furrowed. "Are there any other Lavenders in the school?"

"Um… yes… in… fifth year… Slytherin. Just making sure you weren't asking her." Harry lied quickly. "You know, letting the team down and such."

"I'd never ask a Slytherin." Ron laughed. "That would just be stupid." Ron laughed again and headed up the staircase to the boys bedroom.

"Yeah, _that_ would be stupid." Parvati said acidly, sounding for a moment like her sister.

"You also thought he'd ask…"

"Hermione."

"Yep. Thought it was obvious." Harry shrugged. "Oh well."

"_Oh well!?_" Parvati repeated indignantly with her hands on her hips (Harry braced for shouting). "What do you mean _Oh well!_"

"We were wrong." Harry said simply. "It happens. It's all alright."

"It's not alright!" She shook her head. "He's going with the wrong person!"

"He's going with the person he asked." Harry pointed out. "That's not the right person?"

"No."

"Well tough." Harry waved the problem away. "Nothing to be done now."

"Unless…" Parvati grinned maliciously, or tried to anyway. It didn't really work on her. "We do something about it."

"Oh no…" Harry buried is face in his hands.

"We need to make sure Ron and Hermione go together."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes."

"If they find out they'll kill us." Harry pointed out. "You know that right?"

"How come when you want to do something insane you rope the rest of us in but when _I_ want to you just complain?"

"Oh I didn't say I wouldn't do it." Harry grinned evilly (doing a far better job of it). "I'm just saying we have to be careful."

"Yay!" Parvati ran around the table and hugged Harry. "I knew you'd fold!"

"Get. Off. Me!" Harry disentangled himself from his friend. "Do you have a plan?"

"Well…" Parvati tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Lavender's essentially a limpet."

"Nice."

"Thank you. I figure we can persuade her to let go of Ron if we dangle something else in front of her face."

"Like what? Or who?"

"Michel Corner I think." Parvati nodded. "She's liked him for ages."

"Does he like her?"

"He will once I'm thru talking him into it."

"I like this new malicious side of you." Harry nodded approvingly. "Do I have any part in this little escapade or do I just sit here nodding?"

"You need to keep anyone from asking Hermione until Ron does."

"Gotcha!" Harry saluted. "Campaign of intimidation and threats coming right up!"

"Subtly Harry! She can't know!"

"Who do you take me for?"

"Sorry." Parvati smiled. "Oh, and you'll need to talk to Neville too."

"Um… why?" Harry asked, confused. "Is he gonna ask Hermione?"

"No silly. You need to convince him to ask Padma."

"I thought this was about Ron and Hermione?"

"I'm expanding the scope." Parvati shrugged. "He won't need much prodding. He already likes her."

"Does she…?"

"_Of course._" Parvati said patronizingly. "You haven't noticed?"

"And Ginny?" Harry said wearily. "Got a plan for her too?"

"She's too young."

"Not if we find her a date." Harry pointed out.

"No I mean too young to date." Parvati said primly. "We have to protect our little sister's innocence for as long as possible. She's not a part of this."

"I wish _I_ wasn't a part of thi-"

"Harry!"

Operation _shamelessly-manipulate-our-best-friends_ was at least good for one thing, it distracted Harry from the bloody egg.

It was just a few days before the Yule ball and the plan was… well it was working but that wasn't the point. It was working a little too well.

Lavender had been successfully unstuck from Ron and re-adhered to Michel Corner. Once Ron came out of his moping phase Harry was confident he could prod him towards the _right_ girl. The subtle intimidation was harder but legilimacy helped to identify potential threats very effectively. Once they were picked out Harry was able to get the boys alone to explain some _'home truths'_. Like how she was already dating a older boy she met on holiday. Big bloke, huge muscles.

"This had better bloody work Parvati." Harry muttered to his co-conspirator one day on the way back from creatures. "'Cos if he doesn't ask her no one will now. I've had to build Hermione's imaginary boyfriend up into some sort of vengeful superman to stop people asking her."

"What's the latest story?" Parvati asked, interested.

"He's from spain. The Academia Atsingani." Harry shrugged. "He's an amateur wizard bullfighter. Owns his own sword and shotgun."

"Wizard bullfighter? With a shotgun?"

"It doesn't have to be likely it just has to be scary."

"Well he's going to have to schmooze his girlfriend back." Parvarti said knowingly. "Because Ron will ask her. Believe me."

"Bet?"

"Galleon."

"Done." Harry sighed. "At least this way I can make something back out of this mess."

"It'll all work out." Parvati grinned. "Trust me."

"Don't say that." Harry shook his head. "I know I say it… but don't."

"You can't complain…" But Parvati trailed off as they all began hearing a sound in the distance. "What's that?"

Harry perked his ears up. A few paces in front of them the rest of the marauders stopped too. It sounded like a whole punch of people yelling and moving, but behind that there was a low rumbling and…

"Singing?" Harry said incredulously.

"More like chanting." Parvati disagreed.

"It sounds like choral singing." Hermione said from in front of them.

"It's coming from out front." Harry hurried forward. "Lets go!"

As one they rushed forward. As they neared the doors other students began to join them, teachers too. As they ran out onto the grass in front of the school Harry realized that the whole school was already out there, yelling and pointing. Harry saw Dumbledore gazing up into the sky, a look of wonder on his face. The other school heads flanked him, just as awed.

In the sky above Hogwarts floated a miracle of white marble. Columns, delicate as glass, flew up from a shining base and met a golden point above. Delicate traces of mirror-like silver snaked and shimmered over the surface, sending out rays of rainbows as it turned in the sunlight. The whole thing looked like some gigantic crystal , floating on white mist and breathing out beautiful music as it sank lower and lower and finally settled to the ground on the grass just inside the school gates.

Harry started forward but was brought up short as Dumbledore held up an arm. The school watched in rapt silence as a procession emerged from the floating palace. White-robed women walked side by side, carrying flaring magical torches. They split apart a little as they left it as if to make a path for someone in the middle. As they grew closer Harry saw that there was a figure in the middle, smaller than the other robed figures but wearing a crown of laurel leaves.

Harry yelled in happiness and dashed out from the crowd, ignoring Dumbledore's cries of protest, and rushed towards the figure. Laughing, he ducked past the line of startled women and enveloped the middle one into a giant hug.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Harry laughed, releasing her and looking up into her pale, ethereal face.

"I wanted it to be a surprise for you." Pythea said with a warm smile. "It's good to see you Harry."

"Mr Potter!" Harry heard someone yell from behind him. He spun around and saw expressions ranging from shock, confusion and anger. Most of the Beauxbatons students were down on one knee and the ones from Durmstrang had their heads bowed in respect. His fellow Hogwarts students seemed more aghast than anything else, Dumbledore had his hands to his mouth with his eyes wide in shock. McGonnagall was almost vibrating in anger.

Turning further he saw something even more unnerving. Across the entire edge of the forest the centaurs had gathered, the entire herd. Every one of them was down on their knees with their hands clasped over their hearts.

Harry turned back around to face the school, no-one had moved.

"Why are they staring?" Harry whispered at Pythea. "And why are centaurs kowtowing to you?"

"Harry," Pythea smiled. "They are staring because people do not usually hug the Delphic oracle or address her with familiarity."

"And the centaurs?"

"They regard me as a demigod."

"Oh…" Harry gulped. "…and I thought I was famous."

"You are famous Harry." The Oracle said, a strange note in her voice. "But I am something else." She moved forward and Harry was forced to follow. They stopped in front of Dumbledore, Harry almost laughed when he saw that the Headmaster still had his hand to his mouth.

"Professor Dumbledore." Pythea greeted the old man. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." Dumbledore seemed to recover himself and bent down to kiss the oracle's hand. "I see you have… already met one of our school champions."

"Harry and I met years ago and we have had correspondence since." Pythea looked up and around at the towering castle in front of her. "Hogwarts is as beautiful as I have heard it described."

"Thank you," Dumbledore waved towards the great vaulted door of Hogwarts and a path opened in the student body. "As soon as your palace appeared in the sky I had the house elves prepare a suite of guest rooms for you and your handmaidens."

"Thank you." Pythea reached out and linked arms with a startled Harry. "Harry can show me up to the guest quarters."

"Mr Potter does not know the passwords."

"Headmaster," Pythea shook her head, smiling. "You obviously don't know Harry as well as I do."

Harry covered his mouth with his hand to conceal giggles as he walked the Oracle of Delphi between the rows of students and up to the doors of Hogwarts.

Harry tried not to listen to the whispers happening all around him, he could deal with that in the morning.

"How long are you staying?" Harry asked Pythea as he led her towards the guest quarters.

"Till after the second task." She answered. "But I fear a lot of that will be taken up with functions down in London. No visit by someone like the myself can be entirely for leisure. You could say the tournament provides an excuse for politics. Many state representatives were invited by your government, when I heard you were competing I decided to take them up on it."

"Didn't you already know I would be competing?" Harry teased. "And whether I'll win?"

"You put too much faith in oracles."

"I have no faith in oracles. I have a great deal of faith in you."

"That is sweet of you Harry." Pythea said in surprise. "And surprisingly open."

"Well get used to it." Harry checked behind him, the handmaidens were following a good distance behind. Harry continued in a whisper. "You saved my life, from something had no right to survive. Even more, if I got the message straight, you risked your place at the temple too. And the only way I could thank you was through vaguely worded letters."

"I got the message Harry." Pythea smiled down at him.

"Good, but I'll say it again in person." Harry slowed as they approached the guest wing. "Thank you for saving my life Thea."

"You are most welcome." The Oracle came to a stop outside the door. "And I would do it again."

"I hope it won't be necessary." Harry turned to the door. "_Bellevue._"

The door creaked open to reveal an elegant sitting room with many doors leading off it. Every piece of furniture sparkled with polish and a vase of fresh flowers sat on the center of the small table.

"The elves don't skimp do they?" Harry chuckled. He pointed to the rooms along the back wall. "Bedrooms are along there. All of them en-suite of course."

"You've been here before?" Pythea chuckled. "Were you meant to be?" Harry grinned and ignored her.

"If you need anything call the house elves. Alternatively if you need anything the marauders can provide call me. Now, for the most important thing…" Harry straightened up and put on a serious air. "Do you want us to try and distract Professor Trelawny or simply drug her for the duration of your visit."

Harry looked at himself in the mirror and sighed, it was no good. It wasn't that he thought he looked good or didn't. It was more that he didn't really have a concept of what he was supposed to look like. Everyone else seemed to take the dress robes and everything as a necessary irritation. Harry on the other hand had almost no opinion on them having never heard of them before reading his letter this year. Were they supposed to be this tight? Or flare out at the bottom like that? And what about his hair? Harry had always just let his hair do its own thing, cutting it back only when it began impairing his vision but now everyone else seemed to have acquired some level of personal grooming skills that he had somehow skipped.

He gave it up as a lost cause, allowing it to fall as it wanted to. He shrugged, what did it matter? He'd got a date so the hard part was done.

_Except for the dancing._

"Yes, except for the dancing." Harry though and grimaced. "Thank you very much for reminding me Mr Evil-half-of-my-brain."

_No problem._

"I don't see why I'm even doing this." Ron muttered beside him. "I don't have a date."

"Find one." Harry answered distractedly. (other people had ties, was he meant to have a tie?) "It's not too late."

"Harry, the dance is in…" Ron checked his watch. "… less than an hour."

"So you'd better get to it then." Harry said flippantly, then asked. "Am I meant to have a tie?"

"Harry, your dress robes don't have a collar."

"You need a collar to wear a tie?"

Ron rolled his eyes. Harry shrugged and left the bathroom. In the common room the other marauders were already waiting, Padma and Neville standing a little way off. Neville looked nervous, but then Neville always looked nervous. Harry waved Parvati to one side,

"On the minus side we ruined our friends nights and made them miserable." Harry growled angrily. "On the plus side you owe me a galleon."

"Still time Harry." Parvati smiled chirpily. "Trust me."

"Don't say that. Stop saying that. I promise never to say it again if you stop saying it now."

"Shut up and look." Parvati hissed.

Harry looked where she was pointing. Hermione was sitting on one of the couches reading, she hadn't even changed into dress robes which Harry assumed was a bad sign.

"I'm looking but…"

"Look again."

Harry followed her gaze again and saw that Ron had emerged from the bathroom. He then followed Ron's to the couch were Hermione was sitting. Harry's jaw dropped. He watched as Ron hesitantly walked up to stand in front of Hermione. Her head came up and she said something, across the crowded common room Harry couldn't hear but it looked like 'what?'. Ron scratched his head and mumbled something. Hermione put her hand up to her ear. Ron leant down and spoke into her ear, his face bright red. Then, to Harry's heart-attack-inducing surprise, Hermione blushed as red as the boy standing in front of her.

"No way…" Harry chuckled as Hermione flipped her book closed and hurried towards the girls dormitory. He looked back towards Parvati, who was wearing an expression of total smugness.

"I'll take that galleon off you any time Harry."

"You are the queen of the manipulative harpy-vultures you know that?" Harry said, flipping a galleon at his friend.

"From you Harry I take that as a complement." Parvati snagged the coin and moved to follow Hermione. Harry saw that Padma and Ginny had both already gone up after her.

"Probably pulling off some sort of last minute Cinderella miracle." Harry shrugged and moved over to where Ron and Neville were standing.

"Harry, did you see that! I-"

"I saw Ron," Harry rolled his eyes and checked his watch. "It only took you four bloody years."

"Hey!" Ron looked petulant and Harry laughed.

"Listen, they'll prob'ly be a while." Harry jerked a thumb back at the girls room. "And I need to open the dance. I'll meet up with you later Ok?"

Ron nodded and Neville chirruped.

"Ok." The little nervous boy then nodded towards their red-headed friend and whispered. "And I'll try to keep him from screwing things up."

"You're a marauder Neville…" Harry shook his head. "You're not god."

Harry took a deep breath and walked down the steps into the entrance hall. There were a few other Hogwarts boys already waiting down there, huddled in nervous groups waiting for their dates. Harry waved to a few of them and settled down to wait, leant against pillar.

"What is that your wearing Potter?"

Harry rolled his eyes then realized that the effect was ruined by having them closed. He opened them to see Malfoy standing in front of him wearing jet black robes and with Pansy Parkinson on his arm.

"Just for one night Malfoy…" Harry sighed. "…leave off. Just try to be almost human for once."

"Fine." The Slytherin's eye's narrowed. "I'll stay away from you if you extend me the same courtesy."

"I'll be out of your hair as soon as Susan gets here." Harry glanced at the steps down to the kitchen but no one was coming.

"Susan Bones?" Malfoy queried, he almost sounded actually curious.

"Yes, why."

"Just happy to see you've asked a decent pure blood girl." Malfoy drew himself up. "Just because your blood is tainted doesn't mean the Potter line has to go entirely to the dogs."

"Ok, three things…" Harry held up three fingers. "One: Screw you!"

"Potter-"

"Two," Harry interrupted him. "I asked her to a ball. That does not mean I intend to continue any line with her in the near future. If nothing else we're bloody fourteen! There are laws against that sort of thing."

"I'll give you that one."

"And three:…" Harry grinned. "I didn't ask her because she's pure blood."

"Why did you ask her?" Malfoy sniped acidly. "Her other assets?"

"I reserve the right to not incriminate myself." Harry cracked. "By the way, does your date speak or does she just hang there like seaweed?" Harry grinned at the indignant expression on Malfoy's face.

"Well this has been lovely." Harry continued as he kicked himself off his pillar. "We really should do this again." He brushed past the angry pair and walked up to the figure that had appeared up the stairs.

"Hi Susan." Harry greeted his date, biting his lip. She was wearing something blue and flowing, robe or dress or something he couldn't really put a name on just now. His eyes traveled down then back up again swiftly. "You look amazing."

"Thank you Harry." Susan reached out and took his proffered hand. "You look hansom as well. Your dress robes are really… unusual."

Harry caught the implication and looked down. His robes was deep red cloth that came out over his legs like regular robes but were buttoned in tight around his torso by two wide rows of buttons. It's long sleeves hugged his arms tightly but opened out right at the cuff to reveal the lighter lining. Plus, as Ron had noted, it ended at his neck with just a stub of a collar.

"I bought them in Switzerland." Harry shrugged. "Must be a different style than here in Britain. Oh well…"

"No it's nice." Susan said reassuringly. "I saw some of the Beauxbatton boys wearing robes like that."

Harry shrugged, robes weren't of any particular concern to him. The shop he had bought them in had had hundreds of robes in huge ranks. He had chosen these for two reasons. One, they didn't have all the lace and trimmings and extravagant embroidery that most of the others had had and two (and Harry cringed to admit this to himself) they had looked like they would be easy to fight or run in if anything happened.

"Ready to open the dance." Harry asked, knowing that he himself wasn't.

"I think I'll do ok. My mother gave me lessons once."

"Lucky." Harry smiled ruefully. A moment later McGonagall appeared, as if from nowhere.

"Well get to it." She snapped quickly. "The other champions are already lining up to enter the hall."

Here we go. Harry gulped as they got into position.

"Nervous Potter?"

"Just don't trip over your seaweed and fall on me Malfoy." Harry's automatic witticism circuits responded for him while the rest of his brain shivered with nervousness.

"And… go." McGonagall's voice rang out and the doors to the great hall opened slowly, revealing an winter wonderland decorated with sparkling snow and ice sculptures. Harry just hoped it wouldn't make the floor slippery. He took Susan's hand and stepped forward purposely.

The hall was full of couples but a space was clear in the center. A very large space, that everyone was staring at.

"Oh great." Harry sighed as the music started up.

Harry let his mind drift back to the ten minutes of very rough dancing lesson that Parvati had given him yesterday. After he had broken down and begged.

"_One two three one two three…_" Harry counted off the beats in his head and tried not to step on his partners shoes. He found that so long as he kept to a very restrictive and repetitive routine it actually wasn't too bad. "_One two three…_"

"This is so romantic." Susan murmured. "Like a fairytale."

"Yes it is, _one two three_." Damn! I can't talk and count at the same time. Why didn't I ask a mute seaweed girl?

"Do you think we could get them to have a ball every year?"

"Probably _one two_ not _three._"

"They might if enough of us asked them too."

"I don't _one two_ think so. _one two thr… darn!_" Harry almost fouled up his footwork and let himself breath. He stopped counting, hopefully by now his feet could work out the rhythm on their own. "If they did the students would never come home for Christmas and then their parents would complain."

"I guess." Susan leant in and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry chuckled as he was reminded again of their relative heights. "I guess I'll just have to enjoy this one."

"Enjoying it so far?" Harry drew her in closer.

"Yes." Susan smiled cheekily. "You?"

"Yes." Harry answered, and found that he meant it. The dancing wasn't nearly as bad as he had thought it would be. The music stopped and Harry realized that he had survived the only dance that was required of him that evening. He glanced back at the blond Hufflepuff in front of him and grinned. "Stay in for the next one?"

Six dances later and Harry felt like he was almost getting comfortable with it when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked around to see one of the Durmstrum students that he didn't know.

"May I cut in?" The boy said, with very little accent. Harry glance at Susan, who nodded. She seemed to know the guy somehow. Harry stepped aside and the two of them moved off, Susan giving him a little wave as they went.

Harry walked off the dance floor, snagged a glass of something off a tray and moved to somewhere where he could see the entire floor. It was time to check up on things. Harry chuckled and sipped the whatever-it-was as his eyes scanned the hall.

He found Parvati first, who seemed to be choosing which of a several boys who were all clustered around her to lead out over the dance floor next. She caught his eye, smiled and subtly pointed to her right.

Harry followed her gaze and found Ron and Hermione sitting by one of the huge tables full of food. Ron at least seemed to be talking between bouts of eating and he'd spotted them out on the dance floor earlier so that was probably alright. Hermione looked happy at any rate.

He couldn't find Neville and Padma anywhere but Ginny seemed to be happily talking with some Ravenclaw or other. Harry shrugged and took another sip of what he suspected was champagne charmed to be non-alcoholic. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Except that he now didn't have a dancing partner. He searched around for a familiar face and found one before walking over.

"Miss Delacour." He held his hand out to the seated Beauxbattons champion. "Would you care to embarrass me by dancing ten times better than I ever could?"

The French girl smiled and took his hand.

"But of courze." She stood and he led her out onto the dance floor.

Harry settled into the rhythm of the new song and got used to dancing with someone taller than him. Since he was at least a foot shorter than her that put his eyes right about level with her-

"So…" Harry interrupted his own mental monologue. "Enjoying the dance so far? Not been bothered by too many pushy students?"

"I know how to deal with _zem._" Fleur replied haughtily, but Harry detected a trace of humor in her response. "The only problem was our _fellow champion._"

"I'm guessing we're not talking about Viktor." Harry said and she shook her head. "By the way we can talk in French if you want."

"My English iz better than your French I think." Fleur replied pointedly.

"Probably." Harry shrugged. "Would you like me to try and keep Malfoy away from you for the rest of the ball?"

"Non, I can deal with him." Fleur laughed, the movement was very interesting for Harry in his current position and he tried to stop the blush spreading to his cheeks.

The song ended and Harry stepped back. Fleur curtsied politely and Harry bowed as he'd seen the French boys doing after they finished their dances. He caught Fleur looking over his shoulder and followed her gaze to see a pair of seventh years moving off the dance floor.

"Iz he taken?" Fleur asked with a smile.

"Not anymore." Harry winked and turned to ask the boys partner for a dance.

She turned out to be giggly and talkative so Harry let her babble on for the duration of the dance before moving off gratefully and sitting on one of the benches by the food. He nabbed a couple of the remaining tidbits and lay back relaxed. He had been on his feet since the beginning of the ball and it felt good just to take a few moments to himself.

"So…"

Knew it was too good to be true.

"… you are friends with the Pythea?"

Harry glanced to his left and saw Igor Karkaroff sitting next to him, an intent expression on his face.

"We know each other." Harry said warily giving nothing away.

"Of course a man of your standing probably knows many people in high places."

"Standing." Harry didn't make it a question but the Headmaster answered anyway.

"As the boy-who-lived."

"Oh that." Harry nodded. "Yes that's me."

"I think that we perhaps got off on the wrong foot." Karkaroff said in a simpering manner.

"Do you now." Harry tried to find an exit from the conversation but couldn't think of one.

"I would like for you to think of me as a friend."

"Stop two'ing me then."

"I could… give you higher marks." Karkaroff said slyly.

"Oh! No no!" Harry said quickly, realizing what his flippant remark could have been interpreted as. "Just stop being unfairly harsh."

"Of course." Once again the simpering tone. "And perhaps we could… do something… together."

Harry sighed.

"Perhaps during the school Holliday you could visit Dumstrum."

"This holiday I'm going to… Kenya." Harry said a country at random.

"I could treat you to a wizard concert at one of the grand halls in Europe."

"Can't, allergies. All the dust and stuff."

"Or… we could…" Karkaroff seemed to be casting around for another activity. "Take the Durmstrum ship and go fishing, as friends."

"Are you trying to ask me out?" Harry said tersely, tired of the conversation. "I'm flattered but you're too old for me."

"I just want you to feel comfortable asking me for favors." Karkaroff said expansively. "That is what friends do… help each other. Introduce each other to other friends…"

Harry groaned inwardly.

"That sort of thing." Karkaroff finished with a fake smile. "Whatever you need. What's mine is yours."

I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a rusty-

"Thank you." Harry nodded. "I'll think about it. But for now I've just remembered I promised someone a dance."

Harry stood quickly and whistled softly. A moment later a glowing figure drifted up through the floor.

"You remembered!" Myrtle cried happily.

"Of course I did." Harry reached out and took her icy hand. "Didn't think I'd forget about you did you."

Harry led the ghost out onto the dance floor, away from the startled Headmaster.

Harry gave Ginny up to a Beauxbatons student and sat back down on a bench. Now he had danced with all the female marauders. Parvati had spent most of the time crowing that all her predictions had come true, Padma was very terse about where she had disappeared to with Neville, Hermione seemed exasperated with Ron and Harry couldn't work out whether it was normal arguing or an actual problem, Ginny was just giddy and sparkly. Of all of them Myrtle had actually danced the best, at some point in her pre-ghost life she had obviously practiced for more than ten minutes. Harry made a mental note to ask for lessons if there ever was another dance.

Harry glanced up at the clock and realized that there couldn't be too many more dances left. He needed to save the last one for Susan but there were a few to go before that.

Harry glanced around and realized that there was one person he hadn't seen on the dance floor yet. His eyes found her sitting over by one of the ice sculptures, her own pure-white robes making her look almost like part of the decoration.

"Hi Thea." Harry greeted and sat down next to her. "Haven't seen you on the dance floor much."

"Dumbledore was polite enough to dance with me a few times." The Oracle said, smiling. "Everyone else seems to be intimidated."

"You should have said." Harry frowned, then grinned cheekily and winked. "I'd have set 'em straight."

"It's quite alright." Pythea laughed. "I get invited to a quite a few balls."

"Well there's time for a few more dances." Harry held his hand out. "Come on."

"Thank you Harry." Pythea took his hand and they walked out into the dance floor.

They swayed to the music for a while, Harry finding his rhythm.

"Are you still wearing it?" Pythea asked suddenly.

"The necklace?" Harry smiled and drew the chain out from the front of his robes. "Always."

"Good." Pythea grew serious for a moment. "Always keep it on. You will need it."

"Soon?" Harry looked into the Oracle's mismatched eyes. "Do you see me needing it soon?"

"I see nothing." Pythea said enigmatically and broke his gaze before tucking the little shell back into his dress robes. "But yes, I don't think it will be too much longer before you need it."

"You're still not gonna tell me what it does?"

"No."

"Brat."

Pythea smiled and they danced another song without speaking. A suspicion began to grow in Harry's mind.

"Pythea?" Harry said, suspiciously. "You said you get invites to lots of balls?"

"Yes?"

"Do you answer any of them?"

"W… why?" A little quaver entered the oracle's voice.

"You're counting." Harry grinned.

"I am?" Her eye's opened wide.

"One two three one two three." Harry nodded. "Under your breath, I doubt anyone else noticed."

"Dumbledore?"

"Oh no he probably noticed." Harry nodded. "You've never been to a ball before either have you?"

"I have… had dancing lessons at the temple." Pythea said, a little defensively. A moment later she sagged, dejectedly. "I haven't been the Pythea very long."

"How long?"

"The year you visited was my first." Pythea whispered into his ear. "I wasn't allowed to attend events until my training was finished so as to avoid embarrassment. It wouldn't do to make mistakes."

"Embarrassment? Counting is embarrassing?"

"Harry didn't you see how everyone acted when I got here?" Pythea spoke quietly into his ear. "I have been trained since before I can remember to be the eternal Pythea. Since the day I was taken from my parents. I am supposed to be the unchanging likeness of the first Oracle, thousands of years ago. Anything other than perfection is embarrassing."

"Wow, well it's ok." Harry winked. "I won't say anything and I'm sure Dumbledore won't. He's too polite."

"Thank you Harry." Pythea seemed to be surprisingly relieved. "If they found out about a slip like that they wouldn't let me out again for a long time."

"Let you out?" Harry shuddered. The floating temple of the oracle with its vines, high above the ground below suddenly took on more sinister connotations in his mind. Harry hesitated, then decided to speak what was on his mind. "Are you… lonely there?"

"Sometimes." Pythea said it matter-of-factly, like it was an inevitable fact of life.

"I could visit this summer." Harry offered.

"That… that would be lovely." Pythea said sadly. "But I do not think Dumbledore would approve."

"He ain't the boss of me." Harry grinned.

"No, he is not." Pythea sighed. "But I think by this summer you may be busy." She reached out and pressed her hand against the shell pendent under Harry's robes, then stepped aside, smiling sadly.

Harry was confused for a moment then realized that it was the last dance, she was stepping aside so he could find Susan. Harry waved a thank-you to her then scanned the Hall to find his date.

"Over here Harry!"

Harry hurried over to the splash of blue he could see among the other robes and took Susan's hand just as the music started.

"Whew." Harry smiled. "Just in time."

"We sort of lost track of each other in the middle there didn't we?" Susan said as they began to move to the slow rhythm of the last dance.

"We started the dance together and we're ending it together." Harry shrugged. "The bit in the middle got a bit fuzzy but I still had fun."

"So did I." Susan moved closer and Harry hesitantly put his arms around her waist. "But I wish we had spent more time together."

"I'll have to make it up to you sometime." Harry looked into his dates eyes. "Like next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"You're still not official allowed to go to Hogsmeade."

"By now they've probably stopped trying to stop me." Harry quipped.

"Then I'd love to go with you."

"Great." Harry grinned.

"My parents are coming to see the second task." Susan said suddenly. "They'd love to meet you."

_Second task?… I still need to work out the bloody egg._

Harry groaned inwardly. Something always had to ruin it.

Harry led Susan back to the Hufflepuff common room and strolled back up through the darkened castle. When he reached the Gryffindor common room almost everyone had already retired. The only one still in the room was Neville, nodding off in a chair by the fire.

"Nev?" Harry poked him awake. "Why are you still up?"

"Oh Harry…" Neville rubbed his eyes. "Just waiting for you to get here. Someone had to stay to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Harry's eye's narrowed.

"Um…"

"Where's your date?"

"Up with Hermione. All the girls are." Neville said dejectedly.

"They are? Why…" Suddenly Harry worked it out and groaned. "What did Ron do?"

"He um… looked at Fleur." Neville said evasively. "Like, not at her face. And for a long time too, about five minutes when Hermione was right there."

"What did Hermione say?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"She wasn't happy." Neville shook his head. "But it was what Ron said that really ticked her off."

"What did Ron say?" Harry could just feel the freight train approaching.

"Something along the lines of…" Neville's brow creased as he tried to remember. "_'What do you expect? They're right there and they're huge.'_"

Harry covered his face with his hands and sank into an armchair.

"You're kidding me?"

"No."

"That really sucks."

"He could have said a lot of worse things." Neville pointed out.

"Like _what?_" Harry challenged.

"Like '_They're better than yours which are small and underdeveloped.'_ or _'Shut up you're blocking my view.'_"

"Ok ok!" Harry laughed, covering his mouth to stifle the giggles. "The trouble is I can actually see Ron saying that."

"Well…" Neville spread his hands, "We tried."

"We did." Harry nodded. "It's up to Ron now. How'd your evening go?"

"Kind of got ruined by all this." Neville shrugged sadly.

"Where did you disappear to early on?" Harry asked slyly.

"We… we went to the rose garden. But we didn't do anything." Neville quickly added. "We kind of decided to stay just friends for now."

"Guess its just as well." Harry sighed. "I'm already trying to juggle too many ships."

"Keeps the audience guessing."

The atmosphere around the marauders in the weeks after the ball could best be described as 'icy'. Harry tried to break the frozenness between the two camps. Well, two camps was an exaggeration. There was the girls, there was Ron and there was Harry and Neville trying to remain out of sight by the sidelines.

The two boys dealt with the situation in the most mature way they could think of. They hid in the library. Any time they actually had to be present, like lessons or meals, they tried to keep quiet on the edges so as not to be tarred with the same brush as Ron. Harry tried to make conversation at breakfast though, in spurts.

"What lesson do we have first?"

"It's Saturday." Parvati said flatly.

"Ah, right." Harry said lamely.

Hermione snorted and flicked open the daily prophet. Harry looked over at Ron who was sulking over his bowl of cereal. Harry mouthed the work 'apologize' at him but he pretended not to notice. Harry mouthed it again, followed by the words 'or else'. Ron just hunched lower. Harry sighed and turned back.

"Anything in the news?" Harry asked desperately. "Any more unusual deaths?"

"No, just a regular one." Hermione shrugged. "An old witch in Dorset named Lady Ellen Hayward."

"Suspicious?" Harry asked, interested.

"She was over a hundred and fifty years old Harry." Hermione answered dismissively. "Even witches and wizards die eventually. It's sad but it's not suspicious."

_Not if you don't look too closely._

Harry sat bolt upright. Had he really heard that or had he imagined it?

_You heard it._

Harry looked around surreptitiously, trying to gauge where the voice could be coming from. It sounded familiar… Harry's eye's led him up to the high table and along to where Pythea sat, watching him quietly over a plate full of cut fruit.

_Good morning Harry._

"Good morning Thea." Harry thought and saw her smile. "How was London?"

_London was wonderful Harry. The politicians that inhabit it however are akin to poisonous sea slugs. Slippery and spiky at the same time._

"You didn't have fun then?" Harry projected sarcastically.

_I prefer Hogwarts._

"Fireworks over the Thames though," Harry thought back. "For new-years, that's always good. I saw a few of them when I lived in London."

_Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten._ Pythea smiled wryly. _One day of light and beauty and four weeks of conferences._

"Such is life."

_Stop trying to be sagely Harry. With me that's a contest you won't win. I'm surprised you took in the displays though, weren't you busy trying to survive?_

"Are you kidding?" Harry laughed in his mind. "Everyone looking at the sky, no one watching their pockets, it's dark and noisy… you see where I'm going with this."

_I should have known._ Pythea chuckled _But we've got distracted from the point._ She pointed at the paper in front of her and looked down at the obituary. _Interesting isn't it…_

"Is there something I'm missing?" Harry pulled a copy over towards himself and scanned the text.

There didn't seem to be anything there. Harry looked back at the front page but had no connection, it was just some scandal involving the minister of magic and some accusation of embezzlement. Harry flicked to the back page. The Chudley Cannons had lost another game (wonderful week for Ron). There didn't seem to be anything else interesting. Harry shook his head.

"I don't see it. Did someone stand to inherit or something?"

_Possibly, but that was not what I was referring to._ Pythea smiled mysteriously.

"Have you… you know… _seen_ something?"

_You don't have to be an Oracle to see what I'm talking about._ Pythea closed the paper and looked around the hall. _The paper is only half the story._

"The other half is…?"

_Guess._

"Brat." Harry muttered and his head was filled with silent laughter.

_I'll give you a clue. Words are nothing until someone reads them._

Harry thought for a long moment, then smiled.

"People's reactions." Harry thought hesitantly, and was rewarded with a nod. Harry cast around the hall. "Who's reading?" He scanned the hall and found Dumbledore, bent over the paper. It looked like it was open to the right page.

"Dumbledore? Is he reading it?"

_Yes. But is that unusual?_

"Well…" Harry tried to put it together in his head. "They were about the same age, maybe they even went to school together. It's not surprising he's taking an interest."

_Good, who else?_

Harry scanned further and alighted on an unlikely candidate.

"Malfoy?" The blond Slytherin was just staring at the open page in front of him, his face ashen and unreadable. Harry could even see his chest rising and falling rapidly from across the room. As Harry watched the champion he grabbed the paper off the table and walked quickly out of the hall.

"Ok, I admit," Harry thought, nodding. "That _was_ interesting. But what does it mean?"

_It's a puzzle Harry. You like puzzles don't you?_

"I have too many of them right now but usually yes." Harry shrugged. "But I don't know what to make of this."

_That's because you do not have all the pieces._ Pythea projected cryptically. _You will have to try and find them._

Harry felt the presence leave his mind.

"Harry?"

"W… whut?" Harry shook his head, confused.

"Harry are you OK?" Parvati was saying, the Marauders were all staring at him. "You've been staring into space for like five minutes."

"And muttering to yourself." Ginny added. "You looked kind of weird."

Harry stood up suddenly.

"I need to go to Dorset."

"You… _What?!_"

"But first I need to talk to your brothers." Harry set off down the table quickly, a determined look on his face.

Behind him the Marauders looked on aghast. Padma voiced what they were all thinking,

"Is it me or is he getting weirder?"


	28. Spirit of Njordr: 5

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 5: Home Truths

Harry slid out of the lake and dried himself off. He set the plastic bag he had drawn across the water on the ground and ripped it open. He lifted his leather bag out and set it back on his shoulders before setting off at a jog towards Hogsmeade.

As he neared the village he flicked it open and pulled a magical mask out that made him look wizened and old. He also threw a tattered black cloak over his Hogwarts robes and walked into the Hogs Head. He didn't look at the clientele, already smelling of firewhisky at ten in the morning, and stepped up to the bar.

"I need to use the flue." Harry said. He didn't bother to conceal his voice, the barman was undoubtedly used to stranger than him and even if not he probably wouldn't care. The barman grunted and pointed towards a greasy sign.

_Flue for customers only_

"I'll have a butterbeer then." Harry took the proffered bottle and drank it in one swallow before walking over to the fireplace and spinning himself to the leaky cauldron.

Harry rushed into Diagon alley, feeling very exposed even in his disguise. He reached the steps of Gringots and stepped inside it's columned entrance. He emerged a few minutes later with a small bag of muggle money. He wasn't worried about the goblins ratting him out, confidentiality was a given with them.

Harry had one last errand to run in Diagon before he left. He reached into his bag and popped the first of the twins gifts into his mouth. Instantly he felt his throat constrict and grow scratchy, he coughed deeply and people in the street turned to look at him. It got a little better after a few moments but it still felt raw.

He tried to talk and his voice came out old and leathery. Perfect. Hurt like hell but perfect for concealing his voice.

He walked into the apothecaries, taking care to make his step a little faltering and weak.

"Hello my good man." Scratchy and nasty like a lifelong smoker. "Do you have any fox urine?"

"Fox… urine?" The man behind the counter looked at him like he was mad.

"Yes, I need it for a potion."

"No potion I know of utilizes fox urine."

"How 'bout wolf urine?" Harry asked, stepping up to the counter. "Do you have wolf urine?"

"No." The shopkeeper was just staring at him now. "No we don't have wolf urine. Now can you-"

"Weasel?"

"No now…" The shopkeeper paused for a moment. "We do have weasel musk…"

"Yes that'll be perfect." Harry smiled through his leathery mask. The shopkeeper hesitated. "You have some sort of problem?"

"_I_ don't have a problem." The shopkeeper rolled his eyes and stepped into the room behind his desk. "How much do you need."

"About a gallon."

"A GALLON!…" There was the sound of angry muttering and sloshing from the storeroom. A few minutes later the man stepped back behind the desk with a large glass bottle full of yellow liquid. The cork was sealed on with red wax. "Do you know how many weasels you have to milk to get this much?"

"How much?" Harry ignored the question and drew out his wallet. The shopkeeper told him and Harry paid happily.

"Have fun." The shopkeeper said dryly. "Whatever you're planning to do…"

Harry dropped the bottle into his bottomless bag and stepped out of the shop. He changed out of his robes in the cauldron's toilet and slid quickly out into muggle London.

He stepped quickly along the roads at once both familiar and deeply alien. It was as if he had had two lives, the one he had lived on these streets and the of magic and wonder at Hogwarts. Now it was like the two were colliding and he felt confused, felt like a little kid again but at the same time he could feel how far he'd come. His instincts didn't know how to react and he found himself searching for places to hide or run while at the same time fingering his wand hidden in his sleeve.

He was glad when he finally set foot in Waterloo station and could buy a ticket to Bournemouth. The train was a surreal experience, sitting close to the window and flying past the world he was no longer part of.

It took more than two hours to get there, ample time to spin his thought round and round in his head. He tried to work out exactly how stupid he was being. 'Very', he decided. Very, very stupid. He didn't know what would happen to him if it was discovered that he had snuck out of Hogwarts. Hogsmeade was one thing but this… And if he was discovered once he got there? At the sight of a recent death?

Very, very, _very_ stupid.

Harry shut his eyes and focused on the one thing telling him he was doing the right thing.

"Pythea sent me here." Harry nodded and bit his lip as he repeated the mantra over and over in his head. "And if the Oracle of Delphi tells you to do something… then it's not stupid to do it."

Harry really wished the words didn't sound so hollow.

He left the train and got on a bus. He left the bus in the middle of a field of scrub and chalky ground. The sea was just out of sight but he could hear the waves crashing against the rocks, ominous and threatening.

The bus driver had looked at him weird when he'd asked to be let out in the middle of nowhere. Harry knew better, it was only the middle of nowhere to muggles. Harry shucked his bag up higher on his shoulders and walked towards the sound of the waves, towards the stately white manor house near the edge of the cliffs.

It was blindingly obvious where the edge of the wards were. Someone had laid grass and flowers right up to an invisible line on the ground, scrub gave way to garden like it was cut with a razor. Harry wondered why there wasn't a wall around the property. Either the woman who lived there trusted the wards implicitly or she liked the view too much to block it away.

And the view was spectacular. The cliffs arching away to either side and the sea stretching into the distance. It was an impressive panorama, enough to impress anyone. Anyone other than a aquaphobe. Harry shuddered and tried to keep the sea out of view.

He pulled the massive bottle of musk out of his bag. It took him a minute to work the stopper out. He went up as close to the wards as he dared and started dribbling the foul smelling stuff onto the ground. He poured it in as close to a semicircle as he could manage, the other end of the ark also touching the wards, boxing him in.

Harry corked the bottle again and pushed it back into his bag. Now came the risky part. He pulled out the second of the twins gifts to him, a little chocolate bon-bon. He hesitated, cringing for a moment as he realized he still had musk on his fingers, then popped it in his mouth.

Instantly he felt his stomach clench, a moment later white fur spread over his hands and arms. He just had time to feel his ears begin to shoot up his head before his mind went blank.

The rabbit twitched it's nose and looked around. It felt like something was wrong, something was different, but it couldn't work out what.

Mind you it was a rabbit so it couldn't try very hard.

It raised its head and sniffed the air. There was a strange odor… Weasel! It could smell a weasel! Was it nearby? The bunny took a couple of slow hops, no the smell was stronger here. It dashed the other way, getting desperate. Stronger here too!

The bunny broke into a run in the other direction, shooting across the ground into a flowerbed. It dashed under the vines of a pumpkin plant and sat there shivering. It would just wait here, wait here until-

"Well," Harry stood, brushed a pumpkin leaf out of his hair and shook the dirt from his robes. "That worked like a charm."

Harry shook his head to clear the last of the bunny-ness from it and checked to make sure he didn't still have a tail.

"Any-ward, any-where, any-time." Harry chuckled and set off towards the house.

The back door was unlocked and Harry slid in, careful not to touch anything too much. He didn't know whether wizards knew how to check DNA or fingerprints but he wasn't taking any chances. Harry looked around at the large kitchen he had walked into, an army of house elves probably worked there just a few days ago. Now it was silent.

Harry pushed open another door and, after a short corridor, found himself in a high-ceilinged dining room. It held elegant chandeliers and a long mahogany table, it had silver candlesticks and sumptuous red-velvet curtains. It also held no indication of ever having been used any time this century.

This had been the home of one old woman living alone Harry remembered. She probably didn't eat in the grand dining room, didn't use most of these rooms probably. He was proved right when a few doors down he found a smaller study. This room showed signs of use, the book on the table by the window ever had a bookmark in it, near the end. She hadn't had a chance to finish it.

Another small table was obviously in use as a workbench. A small flipbook lay open, as Harry moved closer he saw it was filled with pressed flowers.

Harry suddenly felt a lump form above his heart. He had realized what he was really doing here. Invading the house of a dead woman. He considered turning around right there but shook his head, steeling himself against what he was doing. Pythea had sent him here, that meant he was supposed to be here.

Harry left the study and checked the only other door he hadn't tried. It opened onto a grand entrance hall with white marble tiles and columns holding up the balcony on the first floor. The staircase came down the middle, spreading out near the bottom.

Unfortunately the dramatic effect of the room was ruined by the large transport boxes that were stacked in a pile by one side of the stares.

Whatever vulture had stood to inherit obviously hadn't wasted any time.

Harry was about the check the room across the hall when he heard something. He went still and tried to pinpoint it, it was coming from upstairs. Harry tiptoed up to the landing, it was echoing along the corridor, a kind of sniffling noise.

One of the doors near the end was ajar. Harry crept towards it as the noise got louder. It sounded like someone sobbing. Harry tried to peer through the crack in the door but saw nothing. He pushed the door just lightly with his foot and something came into his field of view. Harry was so shocked he didn't even notice as the door swung open.

The room looked like a reading room, or a second study maybe, bookshelves covered every wall but one. The whole back wall was a massive window looking out, offering a massive panorama over the garden behind the house, the wild scrub beyond that and the sea stretching to infinity beyond that. There was a armchair set right in the middle, where someone could look out over the sea. The arms of it were clearly worn, someone had spent a long lime sitting in that chair. But that wasn't what had shocked Harry.

There was a boy sitting there in the middle of the room, collapsed on the floor on his knees. Under his thick black robes his chest was racked with sobs. He had his hands over his face and his fingers curled into his white-blond hair.

Malfoy.

Harry just stood there, it was as if his body had been frozen. He must have made some motion because a moment later Malfoy's head jerked up and Harry's green eyes met the watery grey ones staring up at him.

There was a moment when no one moved, then Malfoy's face flickered from grief to disbelief, disbelief to confusion and confusion to rage.

"_Stupefy!_"

Harry threw himself back into the corridor as the spell shot past his shoulder. Harry drew his wand and shot a bludgeoning hex at Malfoy but found to coming back at him a moment later. Harry was forced back down the corridor as the enraged Slytherin threw hex after hex at him.

"_Confringo!_" Harry shot at a marble bust by Malfoy's head and the blast caused him to duck and stumble.

"_Ferio!_" The spell hit Malfoy in the side and sent him to the floor

"_Petrificus To-_"

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Harry felt his wand jerked out of his hand. He tried to grab it but it slipped through his fingers and landed in Malfoy's open palm. A moment later a glowing curse hit him in the face like a ball of needles and threw him to the floor.

As Harry shivered in pain and tried to shake off the feeling that his face was being grated a shadow passed over him.

"Now Potter." Malfoy grated. "We're going to have a long talk about why you're here and what I'm going to do to you."

"I doubt it." Harry snarled and kicked Malfoy's feet out from under him. Some spell pin-wheeled over Harry's head and he ducked to the floor. He leapt at Malfoy and grabbed both his arms to stop him casting more spells. Malfoy was writhing and spitting to try and get him off. Harry head butted him in the chin and he yelled out in pain.

Somehow Malfoy managed to get a hand free and stabbed his fingers into Harry's throat. Harry grabbed Malfoy's hair and jerked him away. Harry shot back and managed to find his feet, he saw Malfoy rise and bring his wand to bear. Harry reacted on instinct and launched himself, shoulder first, into the Slytherins's stomach. They both flew backwards and Harry heard a loud crash of splintering wood. The two boys dropped like stones, far further than they should have.

It was only then that Harry remembered they had been fighting on the upstairs landing.

"Oh great," Harry thought in that moment as he brought up his hands to cover his head. "This is going to hurt far too much."

The marble floor rose to meet him. Harry felt the impact in every bone and muscle, like some shockwave had shot through him and broken everything. He winced and tried to push himself up. The instant his left hand hit the floor a shot of pain ran through him and he gingerly pulled it back.

Broken wrist. Wonderful.

Harry stood on shaky legs and looked over at where Malfoy had fallen. The slimy pure blood was whimpering into the floor so he was probably alive. Harry walked over and snatched both their wands from where they'd rolled. Malfoy was bleeding from somewhere. Harry knelt by him and pushed him over to get a better look.

"Oh stop crying you big baby." Harry said disgustedly. "You've only got a broken nose."

"It hurts."

"That's why they call them broken." Harry shrugged and stood. "What the hell are you doing here anywhere?"

"I could ask you the same." Malfoy shot back, looking very silly. He was trying to pull of imperial arrogance with blood dripping from his nose.

"Yes you could. You wouldn't get an answer though because I hold all the cards." Harry grinned. "Oh, did I say cards? I meant _wands!_" Harry lowered his towards the boy on the floor. "Tell me why you're here! Why did you sneak out of Hogwarts to come here?"

"I have more right to be here than you do." Malfoy pulled himself up to a sitting position and wiped the blood off his face with a sleeve. "Why shouldn't I visit Ellen's house?"

"You know she's dead?"

"Yes Potter that's painfully obvious." Malfoy sneered. "I'm here because she's an old family friend. What's your excuse?"

"Following a tip." Harry's head snapped back as a loud bell rang out across the hall.

"That's the wards." Malfoy said, surprised.

Harry ran to the front door and peered out from between the curtains. He saw a flash of black robe and jerked back, his feet skidding on the floor.

"Aurors!" There wasn't time to leave the hall, Harry dove behind a pile of boxes just as the boor handle began to turn. He felt Malfoy slide in beside him. The two boys waited in deathly silence as the door creaked open.

"Signs of a struggle sir." Harry heard a girls voice say. "Broken banister, blood on the floor."

"More than a simple looting call then." A deep voice, heavy.

"Perhaps they fought with the homeowner?" A second male voice, younger, suggested.

"Didn't you read the note?" Girly said irritably. "The homeowner's dead. That's the whole reason we're here."

"Trainee Nymphadora is correct." Deep agreed. "There shouldn't be any magic at this premise, let alone underage magic."

Harry groaned silently. _Of course_. The ministry could detect underage magic, and he and Malfoy had been throwing spells around like they were back at Hogwarts.

"We are idiots," Harry thought. He turned and his eyes met Malfoy's, he could tell the other boy was thinking the same thing.

"So maybe the looters fought each other." The male trainee was saying. "Arguing over spoils?"

"Possible." Deep sounded as if he was just tolerating this youngster. "We cannot know at present."

"Should I take a blood sample?"

Malfoy's eyes shot wide open.

"No, we search the house first. They could still be here. Jandred you stay here and make sure they do not try to leave by the front door. Nymphadora, with me."

Harry heard footsteps move away to the door towards the dining room. His mind was already churning possibilities. If they took the blood, they would find it was Malfoy's and arrest him. At which point Malfoy would turn Harry over in a heartbeat.

Harry drew his wand and disillusioned himself as quietly as possible. He heard Malfoy hiss something behind him but ignored him. Harry peered out from behind a box and saw that the man, Jandred, was looking the other way. Harry slid out from behind the box and moved closer as silently as he was able.

Should have silenced my feet.

Harry cursed himself for forgetting but kept tiptoeing closer. When he was within a few meters of the patch of blood on the floor he whispered,

"_Scourgify!_" The blood disappeared and Harry shot behind a pillar just as the trainee auror turned around.

Harry forced himself to breath shallowly and quietly. A long moment went past but the man didn't seem to notice that the blood was gone. Harry looked over and saw that Malfoy had made his way to a side door and was beckoning to him from behind it.

Harry waited until the auror turned back and then slunk towards the blond Slytherin. He went sideways to get through the door.

"Where are we going?" Harry mouthed but Malfoy ignored him and walked quietly along the corridor. At the other end he pushed on a section of wall and Harry was amazed to see it swing inwards. A secret door!

Harry followed quickly behind and closed the door behind him.

"Where are we?"

"Servant's passages Potter." Malfoy seemed to be able to make even a whisper a sneer. "All true old pure blood houses have them so the servants can move around without getting underfoot."

"Thought you used house elves?" Harry said disparagingly as they made their way through the dusty corridor.

"There was a time when it was seen as a mark of true wealth to be able to afford wizards slaves as well." Malfoy ducked under a massive cobweb. "Alas those times have passed."

"Oh for the good old days." Harry said sarcastically.

Malfoy came to a stop near a trapdoor in the floor and levered the door open with his foot.

"We can get out here, the passage goes all the way outside the wards. It's how I got in."

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked quizzically. "Why are you helping me?"

"Why did you clean up the blood?"

"Are you kidding? If they'd have caught you you'd hand me over in a mome-" Harry paused. "That's why you're doing this isn't it?"

"Spot on Potter. Get in the damn tunnel."

The two boys emerged like moles in a field miles away from the house, blinking and shielding their eyes from the sunlight. Harry could see the house far in the distance, a white blot against the sky.

"That was a serious tunnel." Harry tried to get his bearings and work out how to get back to the train station. "Town's that way."

"Give me my wand back." Malfoy said to Harry's back. Harry hesitated, then tossed it over his shoulder.

Harry began trudging through the grass and a moment later Malfoy fell into step beside him.

"Why were you really there?" Harry asked suddenly.

"I told you Potter she was a family friend." Malfoy said curtly.

"If she was a family friend your father could have taken you out of school." Harry pointed out. "Instead you sneak out on your own."

"I wanted to know the whole story." Malfoy said angrily.

"What do you mean the whole story?"

"You don't…? You don't know." Malfoy shook his head then began again as if explaining something to a child. "The Daily Prophet works hard not to offend the wizarding families you understand."

"Yeah."

"You remember what it said Ellen Hayward died of?"

"She…" Harry tried to cast her mind back. "It said she must have mixed one of her medicinal potions wrong. Used too much-"

"Exactly!" Malfoy cut in. "That's what they say on the surface. They don't want to offend us but they still need to spread the news so they have these little codes."

"Codes in the paper?"

"Yes Potter," Malfoy gestured with his hands as he explained. "If they say someone say… died in his sleep then that means he was smothered by a family member."

"Nice." Harry cringed back.

"Don't be so squeamish." Malfoy scoffed. "Spell misfired means they were experimenting with dark magic, unexpected illness usually means they caught something from a scarlet woman."

"You're fourteen Malfoy, say prostitute."

"And a mistake mixing potions is code for suicide." Malfoy lapsed into silence.

"So…" Harry said carefully.

"So Ellen was the least likely person in the world to consider suicide!" Malfoy snapped. "She had more life in her than women half her age! She used to pop around to our house all the time, or we would go to hers. She was an active member of pure blood society, and in good health. She would not kill herself!"

They walked in silence for a little ways as Harry digested all off that.

"You suspect murder then." Harry said quietly.

"I just think it's suspicious." Malfoy said angrily.

There was more silence. They reached the tarmac road and fell into step along it easily.

"Did you hear about Rita Skeeter?" Harry said after a while. "That was suspicious too."

Malfoy said nothing, but he bit his lip and seemed to be thinking. As they reached the edge of town Malfoy stopped suddenly.

"I'm going this way." He pointed up a disused looking alleyway. "This is my way home."

"You wouldn't consider giving me a lift would you?" Harry said jokily.

"Don't be an idiot Potter." Malfoy turned and walked down the alley.

"Figures." Harry shrugged, shifted his bag higher up on his shoulder and headed into town.

As he was walking through a shopping street on his way back to the train station he heard an odd noise. A sort of low moaning without words. It was also familiar. His ears pricked up as he tried to pinpoint it. It was coming from a little shop, one of those nature shops that sold incense, wicker wall-hangings, wooden sculptures and useless junk like that. Harry moved into it and tried to pick out the noise, it was coming from a tape player on a stand.

Harry's fingers moved to the little knobs on the top. How did these things work again? Dudley had had one… Harry twisted one knob to no effect, he tried another marked pitch and the sound got lower. Ah! Harry twisted it all the way the other way and jerked the volume knob to full.

A high pitched warbling scream filled the shop, causing Harry to both cringe in pain and yell in triumph. It sounded almost exactly like the golden egg.

"Hey!" The shopkeeper yelled at him and rushed over to reset the machine. "What the hell do you think you're doing kid?"

"Sorry," Harry shrugged apologetically. "What was that?"

"It was whale song before you screwed with it." The man said angrily.

"Whale song…" Harry smiled and nodded. "Thank you." He turned and walked out of the shop.

*

It was dark and bitingly cold by the time Harry hauled himself out of the lake and squelched into Hogwarts. Swimming across the lake at night with a broken wrist had possibly been the most terrifying experience of Harry's life and he was glad when he managed to reach the fat lady's portrait.

"Oh you poor dear." She said. "You look like a you've been through the wars."

"Looks worse from in here." Harry smiled up at her and she opened without him saying anything else.

Harry barely had the energy to drop his clothes on the floor and crawl into bed before sleep took him.

He the rabbit again, running through the woods away from something. The apple trees were in full blossom and the air was full of pink petals. A twisted counterpoint to the fear coursing through his tiny body. Something caught him, grabbed him by the ears. He kicked and scratched as hard as he could but it was no good, the massive dark shape holding him just laughed. Harry screamed as it plunged it's long fingers into his forehead.

"Harry!"

Harry jerked awake and looked around, Ron and Neville were standing over him worriedly.

"Bad dream." Harry muttered and slid out of bed. "The one where I'm naked in the middle of the great hall again. Time to get up anyway."

"How was Dorset Harry?" Neville said quietly.

"Cold. Going to the beach in January's a really stupid idea." Harry grinned and walked towards the showers.

Harry visited the hospital wing quickly to fix his wrist ("Stairs again Harry?" "Sure, we can go with that.") and wandered down towards the great hall in good spirits. He had a good clue on the egg, he hadn't been caught and he'd gained a valuable clue. All in all it was a good…

Bugger.

Harry froze as he reached the entrance of the great hall before forcing himself to continue and take a seat. Up on the high table, sitting next to Dumbledore, was a tall black man in auror's robes.

"Good morning students." Dumdledore stood as soon as everyone had gathered in the great hall. "Before we eat this morning, auror Shacklebolt from the ministry has something to say."

Everyone in the hall was looking at the tall auror as he stood. Everyone except the marauders who were all looking at Harry.

"What the hell did you do?" Hermione hissed in his ear and Harry shushed her into silence.

"Good morning." The auror said, he seemed to think this was all the introduction necessary because he proceeded to launch right in. "Yesterday there was an incident at the house of a recently deceased witch near Bournemouth."

"That's in Devon." Hermione hissed.

"Is it? Is it _really?_" Harry hissed back. "The geography lesson is fascinating now kindly _shut up!_"

"We were alerted to it by underage magic." The auror continued. "But whoever it was is also guilty of breaking and entering, illegally breaching wards, property damage, vandalism and theft."

Theft?

"Judging by the difficulty of the spells detected the suspect must be at least of Hogwarts age." The auror's dark eyes swept over the students. "And since there are currently no school age wizards in Britain who chose not to attend Hogwarts the culprit is someone in this room."

Harry glanced over at Malfoy and met the other boy's eyes. They were both thinking the same thing, 'If one of us goes down, we both go down.'.

"There was blood left at the scene, but whoever it was cleaned up after themselves." Harry breathed a sigh of relief in his mind. "But thankfully we were able to find some strands of hair."

The auror held up a small, clear envelope. Harry adjusted his glasses but couldn't see anything in there before the auror put it back in the pocket of his robes.

"A simple _cirrus ab clavis_ spell will determine who it belongs to." Shacklebolt continued. "So in a moment some of you will be escorted to the hospital wing where you will be tested."

"Only some of us?" Someone called out.

"Yes, the hair is blond." Shacklebolt stood and began walking out of the hall.

Harry gulped, the fact that the hair wasn't his really didn't help him much. Malfoy would still rat him out.

"Harry what's going on?"

"Not now Hermione." Harry stood and walked calmly towards the end of the table, plenty of other people were getting up to go the lectures so he hoped it wasn't too suspicious. The teachers had begun wrangling the blond students into groups. Harry deliberately didn't look over at the Slytherin table, he already knew what he'd see.

As soon as he was out of sight of the hall he broke into a sprint, shooting along the corridor and sliding sideways behind a tapestry before throwing himself up a secret staircase. He had to reach the hospital wing before the auror did, or he was dead meat. He dashed out of the stairwell and down a disused passage, ducking under cobwebs.

A moment later he was out and walking normally. He had to give the auror no cause for suspicion, and this guy seemed pretty on the ball. He saw him turn into the corridor and Harry steeled himself, he would only get one chance at this. He moved out into the middle of the corridor and brushed close to the man as he walked past.

Harry's fingers slipped into the auror's pocket. Dip-grasp-out-hide!

Harry slipped the envelope into his robes and kept walking. For a terrifying moment he thought the auror had noticed, that he was going to turn and yell for Harry to stop. But nothing came and Harry walked on.

He began breathing when he got a corridor away. That had been easier than he thought, he was really losing respect for these ministry types. Not enough vigilance, Moody would be disappointed. Harry wandered back to the great hall and looked in. The Marauders were already gone, probably trying to look for him, but the blond-squads were still there being organized by year and house.

"Harry!" Harry saw Susan waving to him and wandered over. "What's all this about?"

"You're guess is as good as mine." Harry shrugged.

"Harry don't take me for an idiot." Susan crossed her arms. "This involves you."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because _everything_ involves you!"

"Too right," Harry grinned. "But since I'm not blond…"

"It was dye, or a spell, or you were involved in some other way." Susan moved closer and looked into his eyes. "Is it going to be ok for you? They're not going to arrest you are they?"

"Relax, it's all good. I've got it under control." Harry whispered. Susan smiled and hugged him.

"Potter!" Harry sighed and turned around. Malfoy was standing right behind him. "A word please?"

"Relax Malfoy, I took care of it." Harry said, after checking that no-one was listening. "You owe me."

With that Harry turned, waved goodbye to Susan and walked out of the Hall.

Harry saw Malfoy again about an hour later. Harry was heading back from he library when his fellow champion appeared out of nowhere and beckoned him into an empty classroom. Harry obliged before closing the door and casting silencing charms around.

"Where is it?" Malfoy asked bluntly.

"Where's what?"

"The evidence." Malfoy said angrily. "I know you took it! Is this your plan? Keep it for blackmail?"

"No, but that's a good plan." Harry scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I will do that…"

"Potter you are the most-"

"Relax." Harry cut him off. "I'm not going to blackmail you, just ask you one question."

"What?"

"What did you take from the Hayward house?" Malfoy went dead still. Harry continued, "Because I know _I_ didn't take anything but the aurors seem to think something's missing."

Malfoy was just staring at him.

"See, if you were telling the truth and you were investigating the suspicious death of a family friend then what I just did was a good thing." Harry held out his hands like balance scales. "On the other hand if you're an opportunistic, lying, hyena who was stealing from her then what I did was a bit more morally ambiguous. In that case I'd have to give the hair back to the aurors and see your bastard arse go down." Harry snapped out the accusation viciously, Malfoy even jerked back a step. It was a moment before Malfoy responded.

"I took…" The Slytherin swallowed hard. "It was an heirloom of her family. A ring, ancient. If it had been boxed up with everything else to go to her cousin he would have sold it. It deserved better than that."

"It did, or she did?" Harry asked, Malfoy hesitated then…

"Both."

Harry nodded faintly, good enough. He reached into his robes and drew out the envelope.

"You still owe me." He tossed it to Malfoy and headed for the door.

It would have been nice if that was the end of it. It wasn't.

"So Potter…"

Harry slowed to a stop outside the Fat Lady's portrait and turned around to see the unreadably scarred face of Mad Eye Moody.

"Oh great," Harry grumbled. "Is this chapter gonna be entirely dialogue? 'Cos my throat's getting tired."

"I was just talking to my old friend Kingsley Shacklebolt." Moody stumped up towards Harry and looked down at him. "Seems some evidence just _disappeared_ from his pocket."

"Did he check his other pocket?" Harry suggested. "That always happens to me."

"Cut the garbage Potter." Moody sighed. "I already know you did it I just want to know whether you had a good reason."

"Protecting myself and a valuable informant." Harry said levelly. "And because there are more important crimes going on right now than breaking and entering."

"Like?"

"Ellen Hayward."

"I assume it was suicide, reported at an accident." Moody said, though he didn't sound convinced.

"My informant is convinced otherwise."

"Guess I could make some inquires." Moody said thoughtfully. "See whether there's anything to this."

"Thank you." Harry nodded and turned towards the common room.

"Harry!" Still not over.

"Bloody hell." Harry groaned and headed over to the marauder table and slouched down onto a free chair. "I suppose you want an explanation."

"Too right we do!" Ron said angrily.

"We've been worried Harry." Neville leant forward and spoke quietly, but Padma interrupted him.

"We've also been angry." She said through clenched teeth. "What the hell's going on with you?"

"I was investigating the murder, Ellen Hayward." Harry checked to see if anyone was listening then continued. "Someone said it was suspicious so I went to look into it."

"We guessed that much." Ginny said impatiently.

"Well get this…" Harry leant forward and quickly related what had happened in the manor house. At the end the marauders seemed stunned.

"Why did you do all this Harry?" Parvarti asked. "Why did you go there in the first place?"

"Um… because murder is bad? Because I was bored? Because I hadn't spent nearly enough time as a lagomorph this week? Because I _felt like it?_" Harry looked into their shocked faces and decided to put them out of their misery. "Pythea told me it was important."

"When?" Hermione asked in disbelief. "You didn't talk to her or anyone else, you just stood up and told us you were going to Dorset!"

"Oracles don't have to speak directly to you my anti-spiritual disciple." Harry tapped his temple. "They have other ways."

"So effectively what you're telling us," Padma crossed her arms. "Is that you broke out of Hogwarts, invaded a murder scene and stole evidence because the voices in your head told you too."

"Well if you put it like that you can make _anything_ sound crazy." Harry shrugged and smiled cheekily.

"Harry you've gone too far."

"You're just being antsy, I know you believe me really."

"Why?"

"You called it a murder scene." Harry pointed out. "Means you believe me that something else is going on."

Padma opened her mouth to retort but shut it angrily and glared at him.

"Thought so," Harry grinned. "But I do have some other news. We have another job to do this evening."

"Is it also a felony?" Padma said sarcastically.

"I love you too." Harry winked. "But sadly no. I think I've finally worked out the bloody egg. We're going to the prefects bathroom. Bring swimsuits."

On the way there Neville pulled Harry to one side and asked him softly,

"Harry, don't you think you were a bit harsh on everyone? I mean worse than normal."

"Yes Nev I do." Harry nodded and winked.

"You did it on purpose?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Well I don't know if you've noticed Nev," Harry grinned like a devil. "But they've completely forgotten about Ron."

Harry slid into the water gingerly and pulled the egg in after him. The other marauders were already waiting amongst the bubbles. He motioned them down and they all slipped underwater. Harry swallowed his revulsion and twisted his head just enough to put one ear under water then opened the egg.

_'Come seek us where our voices sound  
We cannot sing above the ground  
And while you're searching, ponder this  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
But past an hour - the prospect's black  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back..'_

Harry pulled his head back up the same moment the other marauders emerged. Several of them were spluttering or red-faced from the water. Harry was the only one who was ashen grey.

"Well that's easy." Hermione said excitedly. "You just have to go somewhere and get something back in under an hour."

"Probably in the lake." Padma chimed it. "It'd make sense if it was underwater '_we cannot sing above the ground'_ and all."

"We just need some charm or something to let him breath-"

"Harry," Neville interrupted Hermione, earning a look of irritation. "Are you ok?"

The marauders turned to Harry, who still hadn't moved. He was shaking despite the warm water.

"Harry…" Ginny reached out to touch his shoulder and he flinched away from her hand.

"Guys…" Harry spoke slowly and weakly, like his throat didn't want to move. "You remember the boggart in third year?"

"Yes it… Oh!" Hermione clasped both hands over her mouth in shock. "Yours was water! Your afraid of water. But we knew that didn't we? You can get through it, you've been in the lake before? You've swum over it-"

"That's different, when my head's above water I can cope. Just." Harry shun his eyes and bowed his head, he felt wretched to be admitting this. "But as soon as it closes over my head I lose it. My mind just goes blank, I can't think, can't control myself. I start trying to breath in the water, start choking. I don't even have the sense to try and swim back up to the surface." Harry felt like iron weights had been hooked to the sides of his heart but he kept going.

"I can fight a dragon again, or werewolves, Voldemort. But I can't swim." Harry shook his head, trying to hold back teardrops. "I can't swim."

The room was silent, the gentle sloshing of the water against the bath, and the seven teens, sounded unnaturally loud.

"Ah," Padma said dryly. "That could pose a problem."

"Could you um…" Ron flapped his hands vaguely. "Wear something over your head? Like a bucket or something?"

The other marauders shared a look and Ron fell silent.

"Ok…" Hermione rubbed her hands together nervously. "That's ok. We can deal with this. We'll get you better, maybe get you used to it slowly. Immersion therapy. We've got almost three weeks before the second task, we can get you ready."

"Yeah!" Ron brightened up. "See, like this!" He jumped forward and pushed Harry's head underwater.

Harry screamed and felt water rush into his airway. A moment later he was dragged out of the water and he collapsed against the edge of the bath, coughing up the foamy, multicolor, bathwater.

"What… the hell…" Harry gasped out. "Is wrong with you!"

"S…Sorry." Ron mumbled. "Thought it would help."

"Let's go back to the tower." Parvati suggested suddenly. Even she was finding it hard to be cheerful right now. "Maybe we can come up with something in the morning."

Harry nodded, it took too much energy to do anything else.

Harry had chains around his ankles, an anchor on the other end. Pulling him deeper and deeper down into the lake. He tried to scream but nothing came out. It was getting darker and darker… black. Harry kept screaming but the black water filled his mouth like a gag. It was everywhere.

Harry woke up sweating and shaking and stumbled out of bed. He felt, and smelled, like he had run a marathon. He reached the bathroom and shed his sodden pajamas quickly before spinning the tap for a shower. The spray fell into the little tiled cubical but Harry didn't enter, instead he stood outside it shaking.

He hesitantly put a hand forward but as soon as the spray splashed it he jerked back. His heart was racing. He turned the shower off and grabbed his wand, he ran a cleaning charm all over his body before changing into his robes and scurrying out of the bathroom.

"Harry are you OK." Someone asked him for the fiftieth time that day.

Harry growled at him and the student scurried off. Harry sighed, it was too much to take.

He had another nightmare that night, again trapped in the lake. This time in a cage that was bolted to the lakebed. He kept trying to get out but the bars were made of steel.

Once again he couldn't bring himself to shower and made do with a cleaning charm. When someone offered him a glass of water at breakfast he almost cursed them into oblivion.

Harry buried his face in his hands, it was getting worse. It was like every nightmare left a little piece of itself in him. Bulking fear on top of fear until he self-destructed.

"Harry…" Voice? Harry looked up and saw Parvarti's worried face. "We've got creatures now… but I'm sure Hagrid won't mind if you miss it."

Harry shook his head and stood up. Maybe something trying to gore him would take his mind off his phobia.

They walked down to Hagrid's cabin. Harry didn't say anything, neither did anyone else.

"Good morning all," Hagrid was his usual jolly self. "We're having today's lesson down by the lake."

_No!_

Harry almost collapsed on the grass. Hermione and Padma moved off at a run, trying to intercept Hagrid as he strode off towards the blue expanse.

Harry leadenly put one foot in front of the other. He was vaguely aware of Ron and Neville trying to talk to him but he blanked them out. He stopped as the grass sloped down towards the water. There were some things in pens near the waters surface, Hagrid was opening one while Hermione and Padma talked to him. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying but the hand movements were pretty emphatic.

Harry felt his forehead get slick with sweat. He tried to step closer to the lake but the sound of it filled his ears. The gentle sloshing waves echoed somehow in his head and became a raging cataract, making it impossible to concentrate on anything. The water seemed to rise while staying in the same place, creeping closer to is eyes.

Harry's nerve broke and he turned and ran back towards the castle. He heard shouts behind him but ignored them, he needed to get away. It felt like the lake was right behind him, like a chasing beast. He hit the steps of Hogwarts at a sprint and kept going. He had to hide!

All the while the water kept rushing in his ears.

The marauders begged out of Hagrid's lesson to go find him. They spit into teams and searched the castle. It was nightfall before they found him. Neville and Ron stumbled on him in the dungeons, in a tiny, dead-end corridor. It didn't look like it had been used in years. Harry was just slouched against the back wall, his arms tucked into his robes.

"Harry?" Ron approached carefully.

Harry didn't answer, his gaze was fixed of a little dripping part of the ceiling. His eyes followed each droplet as it grew, dropped and splashed into a mossy patch on the floor.

"Harry?"

Drip, drip, drip.

"Are you Ok?"

Drip, drip, drip.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Drip, drip, drip… Harry looked up and his eyes met Ron's. The redhead almost flinched back, his friends gaze was hollow and dull, like all the life had been sucked out of him. But even so it seemed to hold barely contained fury.

"Yes," Harry's voice sounded like it was seeping out through stone. "I do need your help."

"Ok? What do you need us to do?"

"I need us three to go back up to the prefects bathroom." Harry clenched his hands, he even seemed to be trembling. "And you're going to try that immersion therapy thing again. Except this time you're gonna hold me under."

Harry turned the taps to full and forced himself to watch as the bath filled to the brim. He didn't add any soap, he had a feeling he would be inhaling a good deal of this water.

"Are you sure you want to do this Harry?" Neville said nervously.

"I have to." Harry tensed himself and slipped one leg down into the water. He felt like his skin was tightening up, like his whole leg had pins and needles. He gritted his teeth and dropped the rest of his body in. Already he felt like screaming, the water was everywhere.

"Ok, Neville you've got a watch?" Harry said through chattering teeth that had nothing to do with the temperature.

"Yes."

"Ok," Harry began taking deep breaths in preparation. "Keep me under for five seconds, whatever I do. We'll push it up from there."

"Are you su-"

"Stop asking me if I'm sure!" Harry snapped. He turned to Ron, who was already in the bath. "Do it!"

Harry closed his eyes and felt hands close around his shoulders. A moment later he was dunked down. He tried to keep his mouth shut but as soon as the water closed over his head he panicked and breathed in a great gulp of water. His lungs and throat burned and he flailed helplessly.

After what felt like a lifetime he was pulled to the surface. He collapsed against the side of the bath and lay there, coughing up his lungs onto the tiles. He weakly realized that there was blood mixed in with the water, he must of bit his tongue trying to breathe.

"Was that five seconds?" Harry said weakly once he had stopped coughing.

"Yes."

"Make the next one ten."

"Harry!" Ron protested. "I can't do this to you! The tournament's not worth this!"

"It's not even about the tournament any more." Harry shook his head. "It's got so much worse I can't take a shower, I can't go near the lake. I'm dehydrated because I don't even want to drink a glass of water. I can't live like this. Please mate… ten seconds."

Harry felt Ron move towards him through the water and pull him to his feet. Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Again he was plunged into hell. Harry broke again and gulped in water. He saw lights flash on the inside of his eyelids. He felt like the bath had become a whirlpool spinning him around and around. Every muscle clenched and released like he was having a seizure. The lights faded, and darkness replaced it.

Harry woke confused. He was lying on a bed, with sheets over him. He wasn't wearing his glasses so the world in front of him was blurred. His chest felt heavy and breathing was hard.

"Where am I?" He croaked out.

"The hospital wing Mr Potter. You stopped breathing. Mainly because your lungs were full of water." A white blob appeared into Harry's view and a moment later his glasses were returned. Madam Pomfrey straightened and shook her head. "You've been here two days repairing the damage, your lungs were damaged. You were really remarkably stupid, I don't even know what to say this time."

"At least I can't blame this one on stairs." Harry smiled weakly. The school nurse snorted.

"You're friend is over there." She jerked her head at another bed where Ron lay. "He hasn't left since you were brought in. He seems to feel guilty over something."

"Sorry."

"Don't say it to me, say it to him." Madam Pomfrey turned to leave then asked. "Do you need anything?"

"My throat hurts."

"I'll get you something for it." Madam Pomfrey bustled off.

Harry cleared his throat,

"Ron!" At the sound of Harry's voice the marauder stirred. "Ron wake up."

"Harry? Harry you're awake!" Ron rubbed his eyes and slid out of bed. "I'm so sorry Harry, you stopped moving but I kept you under. I thought you were getting used to it… I didn't know you'd blacked out. I almost killed yo-"

"Because I told you to." Harry broke in. "You didn't screw up, I did. And if I wasn't so screwed up in the first place none of this would be necessary."

"You're not screwed up Harry. You're just… Harry."

"I jump onto trains." Harry shook his head and laughed, but here was no humor in it. "I'm fourteen and I've murdered two people you can't tell me that's normal."

"But that was self defense."

"And I didn't even hesitate! I just stabbed them!" Harry continued. "I have nightmares, I'm aquaphobic and I remember things I shouldn't know. Something's wrong with me."

"But-"

"I manipulate people, I have no sense of when I've gone too far, I _potioned_ a teacher, dueled another one, I lie, I cheat, I steal. You can't tell me I'm normal, not with a straight face."

"But Harry," Ron moved up and put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "All that stuff's what makes you _you_."

"Being me sucks." Harry rolled over away from Ron. Madam Pomfrey returned with a glass of water and a small tumbler of blue liquid.

"Drink all of it. It's quite bitter." She disappeared into her office again.

Harry reached out and gulped down the aniseed flavored potion. He reached out for the water glass but his fingers stopped an inch from the glass. Harry sighed deeply and dropped back onto the bed.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked.

"It didn't work." Harry breathed faintly. "It didn't even work."

"_Bellevue._" Harry spoke the password then knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Harry turned the handle and stepped into the guest quarters of Hogwarts. A few of the temple handmaidens were sitting at the table reading, they looked up pointedly as he entered. He tried to ignore them. He walked over to where Pythea was sitting by the window on a little couch. Harry pulled over a chair and sat.

"Are you feeling better?" Pythea asked, though she didn't sound concerned.

"Yes. Thank you."

"I looked in on you in the hospital wing, but I couldn't stay." Pythea's eye's flickered to the white robed women around the table.

"That's alright." Harry smiled. "That's not what I came here about. I need advice."

"About the second task?" Pythea smiled faintly. "You fear it."

"Yeah." Harry answered, not bothering to wonder how Pythea knew. "I don't think I can do it. I mean there are spells and things, bubblehead charm, Neville suggested gillyweed. But none of them'll work for me, not if I go crazy the instant I hit the water. I don't know what to do. I'm scared Thea, I need help."

"Are you asking for my advice as an oracle?" Pythea cocked her head. "Or as a friend?"

"Please Thea," Harry begged. "Just give me something."

"I have advice for you Harry." Pythea took his hand in hers. "But you may not like it."

"Tell me."

"Give up."

"What?" Harry frowned, confused.

"Don't compete in the second task. You can still win on the third even if you get zero for this one."

"But… The goblet's a binding contract." Harry shook his head. "I have to compete."

"You have to compete in the _tournament._" Pythea corrected. "There have been various times in the past where a champion has skipped a task for medical reasons. And a phobia is a legitimate medical reason."

"But… I'd have to tell them." Harry bit his lip. "The whole school would know."

"You fear that happening?"

"Yes."

"More than you fear the lake?"

"No." Harry shuddered and shook his head. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I hate to see you hurt Harry." She was rubbing her fingers unconsciously on his hand. "But even more I hate to see you scared."

Harry nodded faintly. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea.

"But I still have hope." Pythea smiled suddenly. "You always think of something."

"Ok, that was your friend answer." Harry smiled. "What's the oracular one?"

_There isn't one Harry. There never is with you._

Harry was about to answer but Pythea put a finger to her lips and smiled.

"Would you like a game of chess while you're here?" She said out loud.

"Chess with a mind-reading seer." Harry rolled his eyes. "This should be fun."

Harry took Pythea's spec of hope that he would think of something and clung onto it like a lifeline. He spent every availably moment in the library trying to find some other way into the lake. He researched astral projection, animagi, freezing and boiling spells and obscure charms. He got his friends to brew a potion of courage to try to overcome the fear but it wasn't enough and the effect only lasted a few minutes anyway.

So it came to be the night before the task and Harry was still in the library, sitting behind a pile of books, despairing.

There was no answer, he should just give up.

"Burning the midnight oil Potter?" Harry heard Malfoy's voice and jerked his head up to see the boy walk out from behind a bookshelf, a pile of books under his arm.

Harry's brow furrows as he worked back through Malfoy's sentence. It took him a few seconds to work out what was bothering him about it. There hadn't been an insult in it! It had been a simple, normal question.

"Yes, I see you are too." Harry pushed some of his own books aside and the Slytherin sat down. The books he had all had similar titles to Harry's own. "You have a plan for tomorrow?"

"Yes." Malfoy nodded. "Just making sure nothing can go wrong. You?"

"No." Harry admitted shaking his head. "No I've got nothing."

Silence reigned in the dark, musty library.

"You must have something." Malfoy said, shrugging. "A little charm or so-"

"No." Harry shook his head again. "Nothing that will work for me."

"But wh…" Malfoy leant back in his chair. Harry could almost see the gears turning in his head. "The Boggart in third year…"

Harry said nothing, he didn't have to.

"You're afraid of water?"

Silence.

"That's… not good for you then." Malfoy smiled. "But very good for me."

"Screw you Peroxide!" Harry sneered and knocked over a pile of books into Malfoy's lap. "And get off my table!"

"You invited me here."

"I un-invite you."

"Too bad, I'm settled now." Malfoy leant back and flipped a book open, balancing on the back two legs of his chair. Harry had the unbearable urge to tip him over.

Harry gritted his teeth and ignored him, pulling another book over. A few minutes passed in silence then…

"Potter, what the hell is _Peroxide?_"

"Muggle thing," Harry muttered. "Come to think of it it wasn't much of an insult."

"You must be stressed then," Malfoy said without looking up from his book. "If you can't even insult correctly."

"Would you like me to try again?" Harry jabbed. "I've got lots."

"I tend to stick with mudblood."

"Evidence of a profound lack of imagination." Harry shut his book and picked another. "Is it possible you're parents accidentally lobotomized you as a child."

"No." Malfoy replied coldly.

"Is it possible you're parents _intentionally_ lobot-"

"Screw you shortarse!"

Harry chuckled despite himself and dropped his eyes back to the text in front of him. It had some information about an ancient wizard who was able to part seas. It also said the knowledge of how to do so had been lost millennia ago. He dropped that one as well and grabbed another.

"Really scared of water?"

Harry ignored Malfoy and sank deeper into the book.

"And you can't think of a way around it?"

Harry sighed and looked up. Malfoy was staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"Courage potion…?"

"Tried it, effect doesn't last long enough."

"A transformation of some kind?"

"Any transformation that keeps my mind intact keeps my phobias intact as well."

"How about charming an animal to get whatever-it-is for you?"

"Against the rules of the contest."

"Some sort of diving bell?"

"Now you're just scraping the bottom of the barrel." Harry sunk onto his hands on the table. "Face it, if I've had weeks to come up with an answer you're not gonna get it in one night. I've been racking my brains trying to think of some way that's within the rules but it just isn't there."

"Well how about outside them." Malfoy shrugged. "You said you were going to cheat anyway."

"In front of the entire school? And the judges?" Harry shook his head. "I'd never get away with it."

"Is this Harry Potter I'm talking to or some sort of imposter." Malfoy laughed dismissively. "You don't worry about how to get away with things. You do them and get away with them later."

Harry opened his mouth to object but a light-bulb came on in his mind. He stood suddenly, driving his chair back.

"I need different books." He stated suddenly before turning and walking away. After a second he turned and said, "Thank you."

"I owed you one." Malfoy said, his eyes back on the book in front of him.

"Ginny!"

Why is he shaking me?

"Ginster wake up!"

"Harry?" Ginny woke slowly and groggily. "Harry it's still the middle of the night."

"I know."

"How did you even get up the stairs?"

"Listen Gin, I need to borrow the Chimera." Harry was whispering but he sounded insistent.

"Sure Harry." Ginny shook her head, clearing cobwebs. "What do you need it for?"

"Can't tell you." Harry smiled evilly. "If I told you you'd be an accessory."

"An accessory to _what?_" Ginny was wide awake now.

"A Harry Potter Plan!" Harry grinned in the dark, then disappeared.

"Mr Potter…" Minerva McGonagall licked her lips and stopped speaking. All around her the various adults were starting to giggle, the students too. Dumbledore was giving Harry an appraising look, Maxim was laughing openly, Crouch just looked scandalized.

They were standing by the edge of the lake, the second task was about to start and all but one of the champions were wearing swimsuits. Those three were the ones giggling at the fourth.

"Mr Potter…" She tried again, pointing at what Potter was carrying. "That is a broomstick."

"Yes, I am aware of that."

"Is it _possible_ you misunderstood what the task before you consists of."

"Anything's possible." Potter shrugged.

"You realize that the broomstick will not even work underwater?"

"Yes."

"Is there any chance that you will tell me what you're planning."

"No."

McGonagall shook her head and turned back towards the stands. Behind her the champions moved into line by the edge of the lake. She shook her head as Bagman read out the rules in his loud booming voice, then…

"One… two… THREE!"

Harry shot into the air like a bullet and careened backwards towards the stands. Audience members scattered but Harry managed to regain control at the last minute and pulled up to shoot over and out, following the curve of the lake until he disappeared behind a hill.

"Did he run away?"

"Where did he go?"

Muttering broke out around the stands. McGonagall shook her head, they had said the same things last time and Harry had come through.

Her eyes were drawn to the top stand, to the sliver of white amongst the dark robes. The Pythea was standing before her seat, her eyes fixed in the direction Harry had disappeared. A moment later she started laughing, a clear Chrystal laughter that flowed over the stands.

McGonagall looked out to try and see what she was seeing but saw nothing. A moment later a shape appeared in the lake, rounding the hill that had hid it from view and pushing out quickly into the open water.

One by one the crowd fell silent, every eye fixed on the thing in the lake. McGonagall put her hand to her mouth, even given a thousand years she would never have thought of this.

Karkaroff was the first to break the silence. Shooting from his chair, his face red with rage he raised his fist and yelled,

"THAT LITTLE BASTARD! HE'S STOLEN MY BLOODY SHIP!"


	29. Spirit of Njordr: 6

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 6: The Spirit

"One… two… THREE!"

Harry yanked up on the broom and tried like hell to hold on as it shot into the air. He saw the stands come into view and screamed, throwing his weight up and scraping over the top by an inch. He tried to slow down but the broom didn't seem to hear him. He was forced to try and control it as it careened along the ground.

All he could do was try to aim the thing like a bull in a rodeo as it bucked and vibrated at sixty miles per hour. He crashed near the dock and stumbled to his feet. He stuck the Chimera to a tree with a quick fixing charm and added a really nasty curse for anyone who tried to take it.

He dashed down the dock and stopped by the walkway up the Durmstrang ship.

"_Ayauhteotl!_" Harry waved his wand and a multicolor mist appeared over the walk, revealing the wards. Harry dipped his wand into each node and spun it around like a baton, watching the changing color.

It was like a combination lock, he just had to match them up… done!

Harry ran through the mist and dashed up to the back of the ship and grabbed the wheel. If his ten minutes spent reading up on magical boats was anything to go on the starter should be… somewhere?

Harry glanced from the incomprehensible mass of Victorian-looking knobs and switches on the wide control panel to the three dimensional, ships wheel attached to the middle of a gyroscope.

Bugger… wait! There were little panels above the controls. Labels… labels in German. Bugger. The only one he could read was the ship's name, in bold copperplate above the controls.

_The Spirit of Njordr_

"Well Spirit, just you and me." Harry put his hand on the throttle, the only control he could recognize. He pushed it forward and the ship surged away from the dock. He pushed it further and felt the wind flow through his hair. Ok, this was cool. He rounded the little cape and the stands of students came into view. Harry grinned, he reached into his robe and pulled out a leather pirate's hat.

If he was going down he could at least put on a good show.

"THAT LITTLE BASTARD! HE'S STOLEN MY BLOODY SHIP!"

"I believe I remember hearing you say he could take it out whenever he wanted Igor." Dumbledore commented airily. "I believe Harry takes that kind of thing seriously."

Harry grabbed the ships wheel and threw it forwards sharply. It rolled forward, swinging in its cradle, and the ship's nose dipped down into the water. Harry gritted his teeth as the Spirit slid down into lake. The water arched up over the top like it was sluicing over a glass ceiling. Harry forced himself to breath as the last of the sky disappeared and he was surrounded by water.

Harry tried not to think about it. He raised his head and whistled at the dark water. After a long moment a glowing shape appeared and came in close to the ship.

"Miss Myrtle," Harry waved his hat at the floating figure. "Lead the way!"

"Aye, aye!" Myrtle flew away towards the front of the ship. Harry angled the odd wheel to follow her. The darkness carried on endlessly, Harry could feel the water all around him. Harry tried to keep himself distracted , unfortunately there wasn't much there to distract him. He glanced over the ship, it wasn't that large, it was thin with a single mast. A… cutter… possibly? His reading last night hadn't been very extensive on ship identification. He'd skipped right on to the basics of steering magical ships.

Great… lot of help _that_ had been.

The ship had four catapults, two on each side. Probably already planning a dramatic victory celebration. The rest of the ship was spotless, varnished and cleaned down to the last brass railing. Harry grinned, now he knew why Karkaroff had brought so many students when it was obvious he favored Krum. He was using them to swab the decks.

Harry raised himself up on his tiptoes and looked out past the end of the ship and past the glowing specter out in front. There was a forest of seaweed, or lake-weed maybe, stretching out in front of them. It was tall enough to arch up over the ship, Harry groaned as he saw Myrtle disappear into it.

As the ship moved into the forest the kelp (lake-kelp?) slid through the water-wards around the ship and fell onto the decks. Without the water they couldn't stay upright and fell like wet spaghetti. As the ship moved forward they slid off again just as new ones fell down. It was creepy, like the lake was trying to grab hold of the ship with slippery fingers.

A shoal of silvery fish surrounded the ship, shimmering like a rainbow. Then they changed and flickered in waves of yellow and green, rippling in bands across the shoal. Harry wondered idily whether they were magic or they were just catching the light.

Suddenly the shoal broke apart and swam away from the ship, disappearing in an instant into the darkness behind the ship.

"Oh, that can't be good." Harry looked around desperately for what they were running from. Out ahead Myrtle had disappeared into the gloom. A shadow passed over the ship, moving fast through the water. Harry's eyes flicked up but it had already disappeared into the seaweed. "Bugger…"

Harry's hand moved to the throttle and he pushed it forward sharply, the ship surged forward. Hopefully away from the thing. Something green flashed through the kelp to the left, keeping pace. Harry hit the throttle harder and the wheel began to vibrate. He held on grimly as the weeds shot past faster and faster. The green thing kept pace, swinging closer through the underwater jungle. Suddenly it jerked towards him, Harry swung the wheel wildly but the green thing kept coming. It shot through the wards and slapped down onto the decks.

Harry slammed the throttle back, bringing the ship to a stop and stepped out from behind the steering column. The green thing straightened up, dripping, it looked like a weird horse standing up on its hind legs, standing at least eight feet tall. It's arms ended in claws instead of hooves, giant three fingered claws. It's horse head… no more like a muzzly dog… was covered in lank hair, like it was part of the seaweed.

"Are you a Grindylow or a Kelpie?" Harry backed away from the thing as it stomped towards him. "Or maybe a Kappa? God I wish I'd paid attention to Lupin."

The thing lifted it's head and brayed, showing Harry that it's teeth were sharp, serrated fangs.

"_Stupefy!_" Harry jabbed his wand at the thing, the spell flew out and impacted into it's chest. It didn't even flinch. Instead it screeched and lunged towards him like a bull, Harry rolled out of the way and it crashed into the floor in a mass of flailing wet limbs.

"If I knew what you were I could fight you!" Harry yelled in frustration as the thing lurched to its feet and came after him at a run. Harry spun and fled off the back deck, dashing out of reach of the creatures flailing claws. He put the mast between him and it. It lurched left, Harry matched it. It turned right, Harry matched it again and it screeched like a banshee.

"_Acerbus cus…_" Harry bit back on the last word. If he went to dark magic and they found out he was out of the tournament. Harry looked the creature over, heavily muscled forearms and torso, ribs like armored ridges, thin legs… Thin legs on hooves.

"_Ferio!_" Harry aimed at the hooves and they slid on the wet wood. The creature went down again, crashing headfirst into the floor. It scrambled up again, it's feet slipping like a cat on linoleum, and hissed. A moment later it was down on all fours, it's claws scraping on the deck.

"Clever bastard." Harry jumped backwards as it bounded towards him. He had to duck under it's swiping claws as it tried to take his head off. A moment later he felt his back hit wood, he was out of room.

The thing reared up triumphantly, bringing an arm back to deliver the final blow.

"_Accio!_" Harry aimed under the thing's arm at the shinning throttle. The Spirit shot forward, throwing both Harry and the thing off their feet. The creature dropped onto one of the catapults, its head resting on the cradle.

"_Diffindo!_" Harry aimed at the rope holding the catapult down and it snapped up, bringing the creatures head with it. There was a hideous crack and the creature's neck twisted back. It stumbled backwards and dropped to the floor, it's limbs flailing. Harry watched as it shook then grew still, it's head pointing gruesomely backwards.

"Whatever you are you're dead now." Harry stumbled back to the wheel and pulled the throttle back to a more reasonable speed. Myrtle had disappeared, Harry whistled again but she didn't rematerialize. Oh great… wait…

There was a screechy warbling sound coming out of the water. It sounded like the song from the egg. Harry spun the wheel to the right to follow the sound and pushed the throttle forward. The Spirit kept on sliding through the black water, except it wasn't as black now. Harry left the controls and went to the side.

Ahead and down there were lights appearing out of the murk. Little lights moving, flickering, some arranged in lines. The lights followed a pattern, laid out along promenades or grouped in clumps near buildings. A city, a city underwater. Harry spun the wheel forward and the Spirit began to descend.

Figures swam up to meet the ship as it floated down, figures with grey, scaly skin and fishes tails.

"Mermaids?" Harry glanced at the mythical creatures keeping pace with him. Several of them were carrying mean looking weaponry and had weird tribal tattoos standing out in red against their pale grey skin. They didn't look like the Disney kind of mermaid, not unless they upped the rating.

Harry aimed for the biggest concentration of lights, in the middle of the city. There was some kind of town square, hundreds of the fish people were clustered around something in the middle. Harry swung the ship around to get a better look.

There were three human figures tied up with thick, kelpy ropes to a boulder in the center of the square and an open space where it looked like another figure had been. Harry squinted, trying to identify them through the murk. Two he didn't recognize but the third jumped out at him, her blond hair making a dandelion crown around her head, Susan Bones.

Harry cursed as he realized he couldn't actually get the ship down to them without crushing them in the process. He stuck an arm through the ward, wand outstretched.

"_Relashio!_" The ropes around Susan released and she drifted free away from the stone. "_Accio!_" Harry aimed again and her body changed direction and came shooting towards him. The moment she fell through the wards she began spluttering and looking around in shock.

"Harry where the hell… are we on a ship?"

"No, it's your imagination." Harry pulled her to her feet. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I think…" Susan looked herself over. "Dumbledore said we wouldn't wake up until we reached the surface."

"Ward must have screwed with it." Harry shrugged and hurried back to the controls. He lifted the ship away from the square and sent it off the way he'd came as quickly as he could.

"What the hell is that!"

"What…?" Harry looked where Susan was pointing. "Oh… Dead Kappa."

"That's not a Kappa!" Susan said, her voice high with shock. "Kappa's are about this tall." She put her hand at her shoulder to demonstrate.

"Ok… It's a tall Kappa? It ate lots of spinach? Is this really the most important thing happening right now?"

Susan shook her head then frowned and pointed ahead of them.

"And what's that?" She was pointing at a moving, eel like shape in the dark beyond the bow.

"What's… damn it!" Harry whirled the wheel to avoid it but they were already too close. It splashed through the wards and landed on the deck. Harry ran up, wand outstretched and ready for a fight, then burst out laughing. "You look _ridiculous!_"

"This isn't funny Potter." Malfoy canceled his bubblehead charm, dragged a clump of seaweed off his head and threw it at Harry, who dodged easily. Beside him Pansy was waking up and staring blearily at her surroundings. The eel thing looked like it was made of shadows and seemed to dissolving into the floor now that it was out of the water. Malfoy watched it disappear and cursed. "Do you know how long it'll take to make another one of them?"

"Not my fault." Harry shrugged.

"You ran into me!"

"Yeah well… um…" Harry paused, trying to think of any way in which it was not his fault. Malfoy saved him the trouble.

"What the hell is that!"

"Spinach Kappa."

"Are you crazy Potter that's clearly a Kelpie!"

"Well if you knew the answer why did you ask?"

"I was wondering why a Kelpie with a broken neck was _decomposing_ on the deck of your sh…" Malfoy looked around, seeming to take in his surroundings for the first time. "YOU STOLE A SHIP!"

"Technically it's not theft, it's piracy."

"Potter you-"

"Guys!" Susan interrupted. "Shouldn't someone be steering?"

Harry looked at the unattended control panel then back at Malfoy. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Girls," Harry shrugged. "Always complaining."

Harry grinned at Susan's outraged expression and trotted up the ships wheel. But as he got there a glowing figure materialized out of the blackness behind them.

"Harry You have to get out of here!" Myrtle yelled, her whole ectoplasmic body vibrating in fear.

"Myrtle where did you-"

"Harry just go!" Myrtle screamed, glancing back behind her. "It's the giant squid!"

Harry followed her gaze, there was something moving out there certainly… something big but… NO!

Harry jerked the wheel just in time as a massive fleshy tentacle came out of nowhere and crashed through the railing, raking the deck to Harry's left.

"Get bellow!" Harry yelled to his passengers as he threw the throttle to full. The ship surged forward just as another arm tried to grab at the mast. Harry saw a massive eye through the darkness to the left, giant and red and bloodshot and staring right at him. Harry jerked the wheel down and the Spirit rose past the monster, the eye disappearing into the murk. Suddenly an arm came out of nowhere and wrapped around the bow of the ship, spinning them around. Harry drew his wand but before he could use it a bolt of silver light impacted the tentacle and it flailed away, smoking.

Harry saw Malfoy stumble away from the front of the ship and dash towards him.

"What the hell is going on!"

"Giant squid!" Harry yelled back.

"I know that! I mean this!" Malfoy waved at the complicated control panel. "Do you even know how to pilot this ship?"

"No."

"You _idiot!_" Malfoy swung himself in front of the controls. His hands began flying over the weird knows and buttons, including all the ones Harry hadn't had the guts to touch. "You could have killed us all!"

"I don't recall _inviting_ you on board the good ship squid-bait!"

"Shut up and do as I say." Malfoy ordered, still working at the controls. A moment later Harry felt a surge of power from the ship. They jumped forward, Harry could even see light ahead.

"Port!"

Looked like daylight…

"Steer to port!"

Harry jerked to life in time to jam the wheel to the left just as a massive shape appeared in the water in front of them. Harry registered a parrot-like beak and flailing tentacles before they slid past and hit the surface.

The ship broached through the surface like a whale, shedding water in great sheets. Harry clung on to try to retain some semblance of control. They hit back into the lake with a massive plume of spray, a moment later the giant squid exploded out of the lake nearby, it instantly spun around and headed for them.

"Hard starboard!"

Harry complied and soon they were racing away from the thing. Harry looked ahead and swore.

"Malfoy there's a cliff!"

"I know, keep going." Malfoy was bent over the controls.

"We're gonna hit it!"

"What's the matter Potter?" Malfoy glanced up grinning. "Thought you liked this sort of thing?"

"I really hate you Draco." Harry gritted his teeth and aimed the ship directly at the cliff. Behind them the squid was keeping pace just a few meters behind. "Malfoy…"

"Not yet." Malfoy's hand was hovering over a big red button.

"Malfoy…!"

"Not yet!"

Harry could see seagull nest in the cliff face. Another hundred meters. He could see seagulls. Another hundred meters. He could see _eggs!_

"NOW!" Malfoy smashed the button as Harry steered furiously to the side. He could hear the anchor chains rolling out and felt a loud crash as the ship came to a stop. A moment later the squid shot past, a meter away from their starboard hull.

There was another crash and the seagulls took flight, a giant flock of white leaving the cliff. The giant squid surfaced, right next to the cliff, its eyes were rolling listlessly and it's arms floated uselessly behind it.

"Knocked itself out." Harry grinned and stumbled over to the rail. "Knocked itself cold on the cliff." Harry sighed in relief.

"Thanks Malfoy, I really-"

"Harry?" Harry turned around, instead of Malfoy he saw Susan standing there. "He's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean…" Harry followed her pointing finger. "… Son of a bitch!"

Malfoy was surfing away over the water on a disk of light, Pansy clumped by his feet.

"We need to catch him up!" Harry turned to the steering wheel but stopped. The steering wheel was incased in ice. "Son of a bitch!"

"We could just swim for it Harry." Susan suggested, shrugging. "We wouldn't win but at least we'd finish."

"I refuse to lose to that backstabbing bastard!" Harry cast around for another way to get back to the starting line. There had to be a way, there had to be… ah!

"No! Harry NO!" Susan yelled as she saw what he was looking at. "No way in hell!"

"Come on!" Harry said laughing as he pulled her over onto the catapult's cradle. "What could go wrong?"

"Are you crazy! No Harry!"

Harry grinned, and cut the cable.

They shot into the air. Harry could feel the pressure of the acceleration everywhere, he could see the beach approaching fast, too fast. He raised his wand against the wind and yelled the first spell he could think of.

"_Eizuckerpeitsche!_"

CRUNCH!

Harry tried to breath as his stomach spun in circles. He opened his eyes to see walls of crackly white. Susan was in his arms, holding him tight around the waist with her head buried in his robes.

"It's ok." Harry whispered. "We've landed now."

"We've…?" Susan poked her head up and looked around. She still looked a little frazzled, her eyes darting every direction. "What did we land in?"

"Meringue."

"Meringue?"

"Yes."

"Oh…" She was breathing heavily and still hadn't let go of his waist. "Harry?"

"Yes."

"Never do that to me again."

"Ok." Harry smiled. "I promise I'll never shoot you out of a catapult into a pile of meringue again."

"This isn't funny." Susan said angrily, her face flushing red.

"You see me laughing?"

She was still breathing heavily, her hair falling around her face, her brown eyes staring into his, her flushed lips were so close…

Hermione jumped up in shock as Harry impacted into the giant mound of meringue that had appeared on the beach. A moment later the crowd was rushing from the stands, towards the white mountain. Out in front was a blond woman, yelling at the top of her voice.

Susan Bones' mother? Hermione guessed.

The crowd reached the meringue and Mrs Bones began digging into it madly.

"Susan! Are you in there? Susan!" She was pulling off huge chunks, rapidly burrowing into the middle of the mound.

"Susan! Are you Ok? Can you hear me Su… HARRY POTTER WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

Harry's response went down in Hogwarts history.

"I am snogging your daughter, what does it _LOOK LIKE_ I'm doing!?"


	30. Spirit of Njordr: 7

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 7: Parents

Harry felt his ear grabbed painfully and a moment later he was dragged from his meringue cocoon. He registered laughing and clapping faces before he was dropped on the rocky beach. He stood up and tried to brush off the white powder clinging to every inch of his body.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

Harry turned and looked up into the face of Mrs Bones. Behind her Susan was looking at the ground, blushing furiously.

"Yeah…" Harry grinned and patted his head. "Did you see my hat anywhere in there?"

"You little-"

"It's red, kind of like a pirate hat. It had a feather in it but that may have blow of or-"

"I'll get you!" Mrs Bones lunged at him and Harry had to dance out of the way.

"Doris Bones!" Dumbledore's voice rang out over the crowd and Harry turned in time to see him striding purposefully through the pack of students. Mrs Bones stood straight like a child caught with sweets and Harry relaxed. The Headmaster walked closer and came to a stop in front of the three of them. "I am sorry to put a stop to this entertaining spectacle but we will be needing our champion back."

Harry shot a smile at Susan before walking towards Dumbledore.

"And we will give him back after we are done."

Harry winced but kept walking.

The champions waited in a roped off area while the judges deliberated. Harry winced and rubbed his ear, it really hurt. Trust his luck to have no injury during the task but get a twisted ear as soon as he hit land.

None of the champions spoke, Fleur kept rubbing a bandage on her arm and whispering under her breath. She sounded almost like she was praying. Krum was just staring straight ahead, moping at coming in last. And Malfoy? Malfoy was odd… even though he'd reached shore less than a minute after Harry he looked downcast, his shoulders hung limp and he kept shooting Harry glances full on… Sadness? Guilt? Envy? It was impossible to tell.

Harry looked over at the judges but it looked like they were still stuck in deliberation. The only one he could hear was Karkaroff, who was yelling and gesturing at the ship, still anchored out in the lake. Mr Crouch had a book open and was pointing to something, speaking quickly. Dumbledore stood to one side, occasionally commenting. Madam Maxim was sat to one side, apparently not paying attention. Perhaps they had already decided Fleur's mark.

_Stealing a ship Harry?_

Harry closed his eyes and tried to stop a giggle escaping his mouth. Pythea's voice in his head was light and good humored, it sounded like she was only just stopping herself from laughing as well.

_Was that the best you could come up with?_

"_Pirating_ a ship." Harry thought, grinning. "Why does everyone get that wrong?"

_You are insane Harry. In the best possible way._

"Thank you." Harry opened his eyes and tried to pick her out of the crowd but he couldn't find her. "Where are you?"

_Getting ready to leave._ Pythea's voice took on a mournful tone. _I've been invited to a dinner in London tonight and we'll be leaving after that. I'm afraid I won't get another chance to see you. I'm sorry Harry, I can't get out of it._

"It's alright Thea." Harry nodded. "I understand. So this is goodbye? Until summer I mean."

_Harry…_ Pythea trailed off, Harry could almost hear her sigh. _Yes until summer._

"Is… is there something else?" Harry asked warily.

_I… I wish I could tell you Harry. Just keep the necklace on. Please…_

"Ok, I understand." Harry smiled sadly. "Goodbye Thea."

_Goodbye Harry._

"Attention everyone!" Dumbledore said, his voice magically amplified. Harry was jerked out of his mind by the Headmasters voice and felt a little empty as Pythea's presence disappeared. "We, the judges, have come to a decision."

Harry heard the whole student body go still.

"For Viktor Krum who used a partial transformation to great effect but unfortunately was unable to free his hostage, we award ten points."

Krum made no movement, he had obviously been expecting something like that.

"For Fleur Delacour demonstrating a good bubblehead charm, and who retrieved her Hostage just a few moments past the time limit, we award twenty points!"

Fleur nodded, smiling.

"There has been some… discussion over the next two marks." Dumbledore stopped and cleared his throat before continuing. "Mr Malfoy's used a bubblehead charm and subsequent conjuring to retrieve his hostage well within the time limit. Although he rode on Mr Potter's transportation for a short time we have been told that this was accidental and so should not count against him. We have awarded him thirty points!"

A small, green robed, portion of the crowd went wild with celebration.

"We have also discussed Mr Potter's conduct." Dumbledore looked over and met Harry's eyes. It was impossible to tell what the old man was thinking. "Mr Potter brought his hostage back first, it is true. However, although Mr Crouch has informed us that Mr Potter's conduct was not strictly illegal, we have decided that it was dangerous, irresponsible and not in keeping with the spirit of the competition. Therefore we have awarded him no points!"

"Oh come on!" Harry heard someone yell, another voice booed and a moment later the cry was taken up across the whole crowd (except the Slytherins and the students of the other schools). Dumbledore put his hands out for quiet and people quieted down, there was still some angry muttering though.

"I am sorry." Fleur turned to Harry and smiled in commiseration. "I think zey were to 'arsh on you."

"I'm just happy to still be here." Harry grinned. Fleur looked confused. "You know, instead of being arrested."

"Ah," Fleur nodded and tossed her hair. "But zey would not put ze boy who lived in jail."

"Not permanently." Harry shrugged and turned. "Well Malfoy that makes you the… Malfoy?" Harry cast around but the blond haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh well." Harry shrugged and turned to the crowd. "Party in Gryffindor tower!"

On the way back to retrieve the Chimera with the marauders Harry stopped out of sight of the crowd and trotted down to the edge of the lake.

"Harry?" Ron called out after him. "What are you doing?" Harry ignored him. As he reached the waters edge he cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled,

"I beat you you stupid lake! Yeah you, and everything you could throw at me! I. BEAT. YOU!" Harry threw his arms in the air and laughed.

Harry juggled four empty butterbeer bottles in the middle of the laughing crowd in Gryffindor tower. He flipped one behind his back and just managed to catch it on the end of his fingertips.

Either he was out of practice or he had had too many bottles himself. Or maybe it had been whatever the green stuff the Weasley twins had brought was?

"We need more butterbeer!" Someone shouted near the back of the tower.

"No we don't!" Fred yelled back, unveiling another crate.

"Stop trying to take credit for the catering Fred," Harry laughed. "We all know it was Dobby."

"Spoilsport!"

Harry spun the bottles back down to earth and collapsed against the wall near a window. It was one of the few unoccupied spots in the entire tower. Initially People had questioned why Harry was celebrating having not scored at all. Harry then explained to them that although he had failed on the points fron the had won on the unspeakable-awesomeness front and that was even better.

It seemed like all of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw had squeezed into the tower along with the native Gryffindors. The party had spilled up the tower with people lounging around in the bedrooms and landings (Endless fun was gained from letting the other students try to climb the staircase to the girls rooms). Harry had even seen a group of students sitting in one of the bathrooms, playing some sort of forfeit game that involved a lot of giggling, clapping and intermittent green slime. Probably a good thing they were in there come to think of it.

"Great Party Harry!" Someone yelled from across the room. Harry couldn't see who. "Yeah great!" Someone closer shouted. Harry thought it might have been Cho. There was only one thing missing from this party that would have made it perfect.

That blond someone had been dragged home by her ear so her mother could give her a stern talking-to about her choice of boys.

Harry felt kind of bad about getting Susan in trouble. In retrospect he could have handled the situation with more delicacy, or any delicacy. But it would probably blow over, even if not it was Susan he was dating, not her mother.

So it couldn't possibly be a problem.

Surprisingly when he had remarked on this to Hermione she had doubled over laughing.

"What?" Harry had said, as his friend held her stomach in pain. "What?"

"Nothing Harry. Nothing." Hermione had patted him on the shoulder, still chuckling. "It's nice to know that you're naive about _some_ things."

Harry shrugged it away, it was probably a girl thing.

Speaking of which… Harry saw a figure sitting out by the front of the school, a figure who looked like it had blond hair. Maybe her parents had let her come home early?

Harry pushed himself up and shouldered his way through the crowd towards the portrait hole. He grabbed a few butter-beers on the way and fended off any questions about where he was going,

"Just to the bathroom." Harry grinned. "The one up there's covered in slime."

Harry slipped out and closed the portrait firmly behind him before trotting away down the corridor. He effortlessly slid behind a statue as Filch ambled past before proceeding down to the entrance Hall. The main door's were closed at this time of night so Harry left by a side door and skirted the edge of the castle until the main doors came into view. The figure waiting there was not the one he had expected.

Malfoy was sat there, head in his hands and absolutely still about halfway up the steps. For a moment Harry thought he might have been petrified before he saw the Slytherin shift his feet. Harry ghosted up silently until he was next to the other boy. Malfoy wasn't crying or anything, no angry shaking or despaired muttering. He just seemed… numb.

"We got to stop meeting like this." Harry's voice sounded especially loud in the night air and Malfoy's head jerked up. Harry could almost see the moment it took for Malfoy to put his usual scowl back in place, like a mask over everything.

"What are you doing here Potter?" He sneered, but it didn't have it's usual kick. Even it felt muted.

"Saw you from the tower." Harry shrugged. "Thought you were Susan come back early."

Malfoy snorted and shook his head. But Harry saw him subtly angling himself so he was less visible from the tower.

"Why are you here then?" Harry asked. "I assume there's some sort of party in Slytherin?"

"Isn't there a party in Gryffindor?"

"Avoiding the question." Harry grinned. "Nice."

"Just go away Potter." Malfoy shook his head and sunk back down to the steps. Harry ignored him and dropped down onto the seat next to him. A long moment passed in silence.

"Did Karkaroff give you any trouble about the ship?" Malfoy said suddenly.

"Making me pay for the repairs." Harry shook his head. "God knows how much it'll co-"

"I'll deal with it." Malfoy cut him off. "My father has people for that sort of thing."

Harry took an appraising moment before the bulb clicked on in his head.

"Ah!" Harry smiled. "I was wondering."

"Wondering what?"

"Why the giant squid attacked us." Harry leant back and lay down on the steps behind him. "It's an ancient protector of Hogwarts, trained to only attack dark magic. And I know _I_ wasn't doing any dark magic…"

Malfoy bowed his head, but Harry could swear there was a sliver of a smile at the edge of his lips.

"That eel thing you were riding when I first saw you? That thing that dissolved into the deck?" Harry guessed. "I'm thinking you don't want anyone to find traces of it whilst they're repairing the ship. Maybe get you kicked out of the competition, at the very least."

After a moment Malfoy started chuckling, just a wry little noise, but it was there.

"Very good Potter." Malfoy lay back on the steps as well. "I keep forgetting you're actually intelligent."

"Thank you, I think." Harry laughed. "Butter-beer?" Harry held out a bottle.

"Thank you." Malfoy took the bottle and elegantly flicked the cap off with his wand. Harry rolled his eyes and took his off with his teeth. They drunk in silence for a while, the wind whistling through the grass and about the towers of the old castle. Harry could even hear the echoing laughter from Gryffindor tower far above.

"So what is this?" Harry broke the silence. "Are we like friends now or something?"

"We're drinking beer together." Malfoy stated flatly.

"Chums? Buddies?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Co-conspirators? Friendly rivals?" Harry grinned. "Agreed non-combatants?"

"We are drinking beer together." Malfoy repeated. "And you're talking too much."

"Emo git."

"Scarhead."

"Snake."

"Orphan."

"Peroxide."

"I looked that up you know." Malfoy commented, bringing down a strand of his hair to stare at. "I think I'm more a platinum blonde."

"Always about money with you isn't it."

Malfoy shrugged and silence descended again.

"So…" Harry broached carefully. "Are you gonna tell me why you were sitting out here in the first place?"

Malfoy didn't answer, just stared off into space.

"I mean there must have been a reason…"

"Why would I tell _you_." Malfoy said under his breath, his old venom dripping from the words. Harry could see the masks pulling back into place.

"No reason… just… well something strikes me." Harry wondered if this was the right course to take but kept going anyway. "Your best friends are Crabbe and Goyle right? Except they're not really the talking-to kind of friends. Actually they don't seem as much like friends as they do like… employees I guess. They work for you."

Malfoy remained silent, staring out into the Scottish night.

"And I haven't seen you hanging around Pansy as much lately." Harry shrugged. "Good choice on your part that… And anyway even when you were together you didn't really seem to talk. She was more an ornament then a girlfriend I think. I don't know much about your Quidditch mates but none of them are in the same year as you are they? And I know you don't talk to anyone outside Slytherin house."

Malfoy's grey eyes bored into the darkness as Harry dryly dissected his life.

"And I haven't seen many owls coming to your bit of the breakfast table other than your family's eagle owl. You almost never write back. That old woman, Ellen Hayward? You cared about her a lot I think, but she's gone now." Harry took a deep breath. "So the thing is… the point is… the reason you should tell me what's bothering you, is that you don't really have anyone else to tell."

Malfoy stayed silent for a moment longer then wet his lips.

"Thank you Potter." His voice broke a little as he was speaking. "That's made me feel much better."

"I didn't mean it to come out that that harsh." Harry shrugged apologetically.

"It was more the was you systematically stripped me of everything that connects me to humanity."

"That too."

Malfoy shook his head ruefully and downed the rest of his drink.

"I can't tell you the reason." Malfoy shook his head. "Not the main one anyway."

"Then… the minor one?" Harry coaxed.

"You really want to hear?" Malfoy asked, sounding confused.

"This may come as a shock to you blondie, but I don't hate you." Harry grinned. "Anymore…"

"You hated me last year."

"I _humiliated_ you last year." Harry smiled evilly. "But I didn't hate you. Ginny, now she hated you. And the year before we were practically bestest-buddies."

"I was your informant in a racist cult."

"As I said, buddies." Harry quipped (mentally noting down the fact that Malfoy had referred to it as a _racist_ cult). "Now either stop avoiding the question or at least try and be less obvious about it."

"It's just…" Malfoy took a deep breath. "My father hasn't written."

Harry waited for the end if the paragraph before realizing it had already passed.

"That's it?" Harry asked incredulously. "Daddy hasn't written?"

"I came first in the task!" Malfoy said angrily. "I'm in first place in the tournament. Surely he has something to say about that. He didn't write to me after the first task either."

"How about when you were chosen as champion?"

"He did write to me then," Malfoy nodded. "But it was strange, it was like he didn't know whether to congratulate me or not."

"Why do you care?" Harry asked, confused.

"What do you mean 'why do I care'?" Malfoy looked shocked. "He's my father."

"Oh, not my field of expertise I guess." Harry shrugged. "For me family is squarely divided between died-before-I-remember and treated-me-like-crap." Happy paused. "I suppose it's possible that the ones that died before I was born also treated me like crap… unlikely though. Either way I don't have to care what they think, or would have thought, about me."

"You don't feel any, I don't know… compulsion… to live up to their expectations?" Malfoy asked, seeming genuinely curious. "None at all?"

"Nope. Why do you think I never tried to learn to fly?" Harry shrugged. "It's the upside to being orphaned."

"I envy you." Malfoy said, shaking his head.

"There are a couple of downsides as well." Harry replied dryly. "You'll never have to learn how to use newspaper as an insulator."

"You didn't have to run away from home." Malfoy murmured the comment so softly that Harry wasn't sure if he should respond.

"I chose to." Harry shrugged. "I could have stayed I guess, but I'd prefer to have my freedom."

"I see." Malfoy looked down into his empty bottle, rolling it idly between his fingers. Harry handed him a full one. "Do you ever regret-"

"No."

"Right."

"Do you…" Harry took a deep breath. "Do you ever regret not leaving?"

"What makes you think I've thought about it?" Malfoy said evasively.

"Your line of questioning, your overall demeanor, the fact that I've met your father, the fact that you already said you envy me." Harry shrugged. "Lots of things."

"You haven't been legilimizing me have you?" Malfoy said angrily.

"You'd know. You're better at occlumency than me."

"There are _mollusks_ better at occlumency than you."

"Magical mollusks?"

"No."

"Darn," Harry grinned and shrugged. "Oh well. Anyway, about your father not writing…"

"There's nothing I can do I was just-"

"You'll just have to win." Harry said glibly. Malfoy turned to him in shock. "Then he'll have to pay attention." Malfoy stared at him, his eyes wide. Harry just laughed. After a moment Malfoy started laughing too.

And it was with that that Harry and Malfoy became friend. There are some things you can't share and not become friends and your sucky family life is one of them.

It's not as dramatic as fighting a troll, but in the long run it's probably a more stable basis for a friendship.

"Errg…" Ron groaned, his head in his hands.

"Brother dear, let me ask you something." Ginny said, making sure to add extra volume to the vowels. "The twins are your brothers, they are your _older_ brothers. That means you have known them your entire life. So let me ask you… WHY THE HELL DID YOU DRINK THAT STUFF THEY GAVE YOU?!"

Ron's response was calculated and articulate.

"Errrg…. think 'm gonna throw up."

"At least Neville has an excuse."

Neville responded by shuddering and rolling onto the other side of his bed. Harry, who had only had a glass or two of the twins 'party mix' and so was in a more human condition chuckled a little.

"Ok I understand why you're not sick." Harry pointed at Ginny. "You didn't drink any, neither did Hermione. But why aren't Padma and Parvati sick."

"Oh Hermione mixed us up an antidote."

"There's antidote?" Ron whimpered. "Why not make for us?"

"She's mixing up another batch for Neville and Harry now." Ginny smiled evilly. "You on the other hand… Maybe you should think about apologizing before you start asking for favors." Ginny got up and left the room, chuckling under her breath.

"Ok," Harry shared a glance with the bedridden Neville. "Guess they haven't totally forgotten about the ball thing."

In the end Harry palmed his vial of antidote and gave it to Ron. If he hadn't then the rest of the day would have been very unpleasant. Ron did his best to sound ill so the others didn't catch on. This might have worked if Ron was not a completely awful actor. It the end Harry just gave up and accepted that the day was going to suck. They had transfiguration anyway so it could never have been good.

As Harry was slinking out of class miserably (McGonnagall had dropped extra homework on him) when he realized that someone had been missing from the lesson.

"Guys, where'd Susan go?" Harry asked the assembled marauders.

"Um… I heard her parents got permission to keep her home for the week." Parvati said evasively.

"Oh, hope she's back for the Hogsmeade weekend." Harry shrugged and turned towards their next lesson. Behind him he heard Padma whisper,

"Is he really that oblivious?"

"I think so." Her sister responded. "In some ways he's worse than Ron."

"Not most ways though."

"Oh definitely not, but a few."

"I have quite good ears up here girls." Harry commented. "So either whisper better or talk in code."

"Inkthaye heaye ancay derstandunaye isthaye?" Parvarti whispered conspiratorially.

"Brilliant sister," Padma rolled her eyes. "Just brilliant."

Susan didn't materialize all week. Harry considered owling her but figured she probably wouldn't want to be bothered at her parents place. When the Hogsmeade week end finally rolled around Harry waited in the entrance hall for a while, but when she didn't show up he shrugged and left to meet up with the marauders.

As he neared the castle gate he casually disillusioned himself and slipped behind Filch, who was eyeing everyone going in and out evilly. He removed the enchantment as son as he was out of the caretakers sight, shocking two third years Gryffindors..

"Can you not do that Harry!" Elizabeth snapped at him.

"Sorry," Harry winked at her and Vanessa. "But it's better than crossing the bloody lake."

"Why don't you steal another ship?" Liz quipped back at him.

"Don't want to seem formulaic. Need to keep things fresh."

"You've done the invisibility thing before too." Vanessa pointed out.

"Good point, I need some new material…" Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Know anywhere I can get a Hippogriff?"

The two girls laughed and Harry shrugged, so long as it worked he'd keep using disillusionment. Except with mad eye moody. Harry walked the rest of the way into town with the little Slythi-Gryffs then split off as he spotted the marauders.

"Hey guys, anything happening?"

"You probably shouldn't be here Harry." Hermione said sharply as Harry sauntered up. "McGonagall's around town somewhere, and so are Crouch, Madam Maxim and that other judge, Ludo Bagman."

"Damn," Harry winced. "That's a heavy group."

"That's what we thought."

"Well if I wear a disguise or something…. Wait, were those four together?"

"Yeah." Ron answered, sounding confused. "They all went into the Three Broomsticks together. Why?"

"Three Triwizard judges and the de-facto administrator of Hogwarts meeting up?" Harry winked. "I wonder what they could be discussing."

"You gonna eavesdrop?" Fred asked excitedly.

"We'll help!" His twin chimed in happily.

"Harry no!" Hermione pleaded. "You could ruin your chances in the tournament!"

"I'm already last." Harry shrugged. "What else can they do?"

"Chuck you out." Padma suggested. "Come on Harry, your habit of ignoring school rules has expanded to include ignoring both ministry laws and basic common sense. Lets just go back to Hogwarts."

"No." Harry shook his head. "And anyway, since I'm last place I need to take a few risks or I'll never win." Harry turned to the Weasley twins. "You mind scoping out the broomsticks for me?"

"No problem Harry." Fred winked and a moment later he and his brother disappeared.

Harry left the other marauders and waited outside the pub for Fred and George to reappear. After a moment they walked out, a little too nonchalantly.

"Guys, walk normally." Harry hissed. "Unless you want everyone to know something's screwy."

"Do not lecture the masters." George put his hand to his chest in mock shock. "We were doing this before you even learnt how to tease a pocket."

"No you weren't." Harry said flatly. "Unless you were doing it before you were eight."

"You learnt to pickpocket at eight?" Fred said, scandalized.

"Seven. I'm younger than you remember." Harry said impatiently. "Now what did you see in there?"

"All four of them are at a table near the back." George said, pointing back towards the building and vaguely to the left. His twin just kept shaking his head and muttering _'seven?'_. "It's one of the private booths."

"Ok, time to be old Jack Shaky again." Harry rummaged in his bag and brought out his old man mask and raged cloak. After donning his disguise he shuffled across the street and entered the pub. As soon as he was in he picked out his marks near the back of the room. Not wanting to arouse suspicion he walked up to the counter and ordered a glass of wine. A drink not childish enough to make him look like a child but not strong enough to make him seem like a child wearing a disguise to get alcohol.

With the goldilocks drink in hand he walked creakily over to the next compartment over from the judges and sat down.

"-don't see where it zey av all gone." Madam Maxim was saying. "Ze last time I was over hear zey were everywhere."

"It's been a much wetter summer than usual." McGonnagall said. "That may have cut down their numbers. Flowers blooming later and so forth."

"Perhaps."

"It may also be the habitats." Mr Crouch said knowingly. "Encroachment by the muggles. Their habitat gets destroyed and they can't go anywhere. They don't like to cross woodland you know."

"Really? I would have thought they did it naturally?" McGonnagall asked.

"Oh no they don't like to cross natural barriers, they only like open spaces. Only a few species actually live in the woods."

Were they talking about butterflies or something? Harry shook his head, this was the most boring conversation he'd ever eavesdropped on.

"Not like acromantula then?" Bagman joked.

"No nothing like them." Crouch replied humorlessly. "Acromantula will live in any area with a sufficient food source provided they can find a place out of the sun to sleep during the day."

"It… It was a joke Barty."

"Oh… I see."

The four fell silent and Harry mentally labeled Barty Crouch as 'the conversation killer'. Harry took a sip of his drink and grimaced, did people drink this for pleasure? Harry slumped down on his seat as the four adults in the next compartment began discussing some philosophy book.

"Well, can't always overhear good stuff." Harry thought realistically. "Sometimes people just talk about garbage."

Harry figured it was safer to wait for them to leave first so he waited, wisely not drinking any more of the acidic drink in front of him. After an hour or so of boring adult discussion he heard them get up and begin to move off.

"Wait a moment Crouch." A new voice cut in. "Want a word with you."

Moody?

"What is it Alastor?" McGonagall asked pointedly.

"Just a little personal matter Minerva." Moody said easily. "See you back up at the castle." Harry saw the two women and Bagman leaving.

"Did you look into it?" Moody asked bluntly.

"I fail to see what's so interesting in-"

"You don't need to. Did you find anything?"

"The department of magical transportation hasn't reported any unscheduled portkeys in Dorset."

"That's all you did?" Moody said scathingly. "Looked through a few old reports?"

"Look Moody, this is your obsession." Barty Crouch said smoothly. "We're busy enough at the ministry with Fudge's transgressions and Dumbledore causing trouble. I looked into it as a favor but there's nothing there. Just a normal, tragic, act of an old woman who wanted to die before her mind went."

"Did anyone do an autopsy?"

"Moody…"

"Did they?" Moody pressed.

"The coroner examined her at the scene." Crouch said wearily. "Standard cause-of-death detection spells revealed-"

"Nothing." Moody cut in. "Because they can't tell a murder from a suicide."

"Moody nothing can tell that." Crouch said in exasperation. "If you drink poison yourself it has the same effect as if someone doses you with it. No one can detect the difference."

"Anyone check her potion making equipment?"

"Yes, it had traces of the potion that killed her on it." Crouch stood suddenly. "Sorry Alastor I looked into this as a favor, but there's nothing suspicious. Nothing to investigate, this is just an old lady who made a mistake."

"Why are you so sure?" Moody said, his voice going low. "Was a time when even a hint of foul play would have had you at it like a bloodhound, but not now. You know something."

There was silence for a moment, then Harry heard a chair scrape as Mr Crouch sat back down. When he began talking again it was at a whisper that Harry had to strain to hear.

"They found a note."

"Suicide note?" Moody asked keenly. "Could have been forged."

"They tested it. It was written by her, with her own free will." Harry frowned, he hadn't realized it was possible to test for that, but since Moody seemed to accept it it must be true. Crouch continued, "Obviously they wanted to keep it under wraps."

"But everyone knows it's a suicide." Moody sounded suspicious. "Everyone with an ounce of wit anyway."

"It wasn't the act itself," Crouch whispered lower. "It was the contents of the note. The reason she did it."

"Eh?"

"She killed herself to be with… with…" Crouch took a deep breath, as if just giving voice to this was strenuous. " … with someone named Mark Lanka, he was her housekeeper until about a year ago. She died to be with the man she loved."

"Tragic," Moody said dryly. "But it doesn't explain any-"

"It does if you take into account the fact that Mark Lanka was a registered squib." Crouch explained in a hushed whisper.

"Oh… Oh I see." There was the creak of a chair as Moody leant back. "And in an old established pure blood family…"

"That sort of behavior would be deeply shameful. Especially considering how respected she was." Crouch sighed. "It was decided that it was better hidden. She didn't deserve to have this stain on her name."

"Right," Moody growled. "It was all for _her_ benefit."

"In any case." Crouch stood again and pushed his chair in. "The case is closed, please don't discuss this with anyone." Harry heard him leave the pub. A few moments later…

"Heard all that Potter?" Moody said from the other booth. Harry grinned.

"Was it really that big a deal?" Harry asked.

"To them that care it would be." Harry could almost see Moody shrugging on the other side of the partition. "And the suicide makes it worse."

"I see. Guess that solves it then." Harry took another sip of the bitter wine. "Assuming Mr Crouch is telling the truth."

"Oh I think he is." Moody said begrudgingly.

"You trust him?" Harry asked, shocked.

"I trust him to _be_ him." Moody growled. "If there was so much as a hint that dark magic was involved Barty Crouch wouldn't just walk away."

"Doesn't he work in some dead end office…" Harry scratched his head, trying to remember. "International magical co-operation? Odd place for a dark wizard hunter."

"Didn't used to be. Used to be an auror, like me. Then a senior auror, like me. Then a department head, which I'm happy to say is unlike me." Moody sighed sadly. "He was a tough nut but he did what he had to do in those times."

"What went wrong?"

"Ended up arresting his son." A gluging sound came from the other side of the partition, like Moody had just drained his mug. "Barty Crouch Jr, and don't think the papers didn't have a field day with that. _'Crouch sentences Crouch', 'Set a Crouch to catch a Crouch' _, lots of ammunition for those hacks."

"Hilarious." Harry commented dryly.

"Anyway, he never quite recovered from the fallout. But he keeps his ear to the ground and a lot of people in the ministry respect him. In any case, I think this case is closed."

"Guess so." Harry sighed. "Sorry I wasted your time Professor."

"That's alright, you weren't to know. And besides, keeps me young."

"Say," Harry suddenly remembered something. "He said Dumbledore was causing trouble at the ministry. You know what that's about?"

"Dumbledore has it in his head that you-know-who is on the way back." Moody's voice was so flat it was impossible to detect what he thought about it.

"Haven't seen anything in the Prophet."

"Rita Skeeter's death neutered them. They haven't even been gouging Fudge that hard over all his screw ups."

"Big thing to ignore though…"

"The ministry's hushing it up." Moody snorted. "The parts of the ministry that are still functioning anyway. Don't know where Dumbledore got the idea though…"

Snape's dark mark…

"I'm sure Dumbledore has his sources."

"Such as?"

"Sources we mere mortals cannot tap."

"And yet _you_ clearly know." Moody chuckled. "That's what I like about you Harry, you make things interesting. Ever need any more help, just ask."

Moody got up and left, his wooden leg clomping against the wooden floor.

Harry sighed and took another sip of his drink, grimacing in the process. He felt sort of bloated from the excess of exposition. Harry shrugged and got up to leave when he saw a scrap of paper on the floor, under the table.

Harry leant down, careful to act like he was creaky and old, and picked it up. He began unfolding it and marveled at how it just kept unfolding, over and over until it was the size of a poster. On it was drawn some complicated maze pattern, passages intersecting and turning and ending in blind alleys. There was an open space in the middle and several other clear places around as well. The map had little anotations everywhere that Harry had to squint to read…

"Sphinx… quicksand… devil snare…?" Harry read a few more of them then folded the thing back down and stuffed it in his bag. It obviously wasn't connected to the case.

After leaving the pub and shedding his disguise Harry went back to the castle (disillusioning himself again to squeak past Filch). As he was crossing the entrance hall he spotted someone in one of the side corridors. He trotted up to the figure, who stopped and turned as he drew near.

"You missed Hogsmeade."

"Mum kept me home." Susan said, not meeting his eyes.

"Was she pissed at you?"

"Yes Harry," Susan turned in irritation. "She was pissed. She yelled, she screamed, she was pissed. Now go away."

"Well don't take it out on me." Harry quirked an eyebrow. "I didn't yell at you."

"Harry… just please go away." Susan shook her head. "She says I can't see you anymore."

"And you're gonna listen to her?"

"Harry please just go." Susan turned and walked down the corridor. Harry followed confused.

"I don't get it." Harry hurried to keep up with the scurrying Susan Bones. "I like you, I got the impression you liked me."

"It's not that…"

"If it's not that then what else is there?" Harry slid in front of her and brought her to a stop with his hands on her shoulders. "Come on Bones, be a little bit less Hufflepuff and a little more marauder."

"The marauders aren't a house." Susan murmured, still not meeting his gaze.

"Oh yes they are," Harry winked. "The hidden house, the house that never gets point because we have no rules. Come over to my side Susan, it's more fun over here. Lets go for a walk, down by the lake."

"I've got an essay due…"

"Did you not listen to a word I said?" Harry put a hand under her chin and tilted her head up to meet his eyes. "Come on… do you really want me to walk away?"

Harry leant in and kissed her lightly and lingeringly. Or at least that was what he tried for, he wasn't exactly an expert.

"Harry please…" Or maybe he was… "Wait… have you been drinking wine?" Harry shut her up by kissing her again, this time harder. About halfway through she started kissing back. Harry leant back, they were against a wall. Had he pushed them against a wall? He certainly didn't remember doing that.

"Oh Harry." Susan was blushing tomato red. "My mums gonna kill me."

"That's if she ever finds out." Harry snaked an arm around Susan's shoulders. "Lets take a walk."

"Harry where were you?" Hermione asked.

"Hogsmeade, remember?"

"Why do you have _lipstick_ on your shirt collar?"

"Um… ran into a bunch of… magic… kissing… flowers? They exist right?"

"No."

"Oh." Harry shrugged and grinned evilly. "Guess I must have been snogging someone then."

Despite being in last place in the tournament the following weeks were some of the best in Harry's memory, and they didn't even involve pranking anyone! He had the marauders, peace and friendship with Malfoy and a girlfriend. Susan was still occasionally struck with bouts of nervousness, thinking that her mother would somehow find out about their continued relationship (despite the fact that Harry had already taken care of this by ordering Digger to intercept any post sent from a Hogwarts professor to Doris Bones). But other than that it was perfect.

The marauders often ended the day by lounging around outside on the grass outside talking or doing Homework. And because they were there lots of other Gryffindors came too, and usually Susan brought her Hufflepuff friends. Before long the after-class-outside-lounge became a fixture for most of the school. Luckily the marauders took enough different classes that they could always bag a place before it got too crowded.

One afternoon when Harry was on the verge of falling asleep there on the grass, with Susan lying across him, her head pillowed on his arm, a shadow fell across them.

"Harry wake up."

Harry's eyes flickered open and he saw Malfoy standing over him.

"You're ruining my beauty sleep." Harry complained.

"Then I'm sorry because you really look like you need it." Malfoy quipped laconically.

"One of us has a girlfriend Malfoy, remind me which one of us that is?"

"One of us knows what a comb is, remind me which one of us that is?"

"Me, it's what honey comes in isn't it?" Harry grinned. "Anyway what is it?"

"Judges want us."

"For what?"

"I don't know, I don't take divination." Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Ron does," Harry glanced over at his friend, who was doing some Divination homework at that moment. "Look in the crystal ball. Tell us what's happening."

"Don't be stupid Harry…" Ron said, eyeing Malfoy suspiciously. "Wait…" He peered into the sphere and blinked, surprised. "Actually, it does look like there's something in there."

"Really? What?" Harry sat up, dislodging his girlfriend. Ron had never before actually seen something in the ball.

"It's kind of distorted…" Ron squinted and scratched his head. "Looks kind of like a face…"

"Some sort of creature?" Neville guessed.

"Troll? Giant?" Harry asked, interested.

"Don't know, ugly though. Huge red spots all over its face." Ron peered closer. Hermione's eyes suddenly widened and she began to giggle. A moment later Harry got it and slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself laughing.

"Weird red hair too…" Ron continued, oblivious. "Think it's some kind of giant? Some of them have red hair."

"Not one word." Harry said to Malfoy holding a finger up. "Not one word."

"Too easy anyway." Malfoy shrugged and stepped back as Harry stood. They were about to leave when Padma said,

"Hold on, what the hell was that?"

"What?" Harry turned.

"That!" Padma pointed between Harry and Malfoy. "You're not at each others throats! You almost look like friends. Are you on some sort of drugs?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "That would disqualify me from the tournament."

"It's not like they'd check." Malfoy pointed out.

"You never know." Harry shrugged. "I can just see that Crouch guy running at me waving a plastic cup."

"I wonder if that's the third task." Malfoy half smiled.

"A urine test? Kind of anticlimactic."

"Not if it's in front of the whole school."

"Oh.. True." Harry shrugged. "But at least it'd truly put rumors of Harriet Potter to rest."

"Also… Fleur."

"Cad."

"STOP!" Padma yelled in exasperation. "You're doing it again!" All the marauders were now staring at Harry and Malfoy.

"It's ok." Harry shrugged. "Long story short I decided that we should have a truce. Since we're both in the same boat over the tournament and all."

"But, he's Malfoy!" Ron said, disbelieving.

"It's Ok." Harry explained. "You don't have to stop hating him just because I did."

"I'm certainly not going to stop hating you." Malfoy chimed in.

"You're not _helping_." Harry said, exasperated.

"I'm not trying to." Malfoy shrugged. "The judges want us by the Quidditch pitch." Malfoy turned and walked, unconcerned, towards the pitch.

Harry turned back to the shocked marauders.

"Sorry guys, I know this kind of blindsided you." Harry spread his hands apologetically. "But we kept getting stuck together, the dragons, the boat, Bournemouth…"

"Malfoy was there?" Ginny interrupted.

"Oh yeah, I didn't tell you that." Harry cursed himself silently. "Yeah he was there, the woman was an old friend of his."

"The blond hair…" Hermione said, thoughtfully. "It was his wasn't it."

"Yep." Harry nodded. "Had to snatch it from the aurors."

"But Harry, he's Malfoy!" Ron started again, seemingly stuck in a loop. "Malfoy, you know Draco Mal-"

"He's not all bad." Harry shrugged. "After all, he's been my informant since second year."

"What!" The marauders yelled, almost in unison.

"Did you think I just somehow _guessed_ where The Called would be meeting?" Harry grinned. "You guys are so naive."

Harry winked and turned away from the seven shocked faces. Still, grinning Harry wandered over to the Quidditch pitch. As soon as he got near it he realized something was wrong.

"Now I don't play Quidditch…" Harry said as he got nearer. "But I'm fairly sure it's not meant to look like that."

"Very droll Mr Potter." Barty Crouch commented as Harry joined the other champions. "But in all seriousness, these hedges are your third task."

"The third task is topiary?"

"No Mr Potter." Crouch said, tolerantly. "It is a maze."

Oh bugger, Harry's stomach lurched.

"A maze with the triwizard cup in the center."

His bag, with the scrap of paper he had picked up at the three broomsticks still in it, suddenly felt very heavy and hot.

"And with many challenges to overcome."

Harry listened with half an ear to the rest of the judge's explanation. He suddenly found himself with a choice to make, a moral choice.

"Bugger." Harry groaned inwardly. "I hate those."


	31. Spirit of Njordr: 8

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 8: The Invisible

Harry sat and stared at the little folder piece of paper on the table as if the answer would just come floating out of it. He had clambered into an unused attic over the library to think things over, but unfortunately was coming up blank.

"It's not like you saw that much." Part of Harry's brain kept saying in a wheedling voice. "You couldn't go straight to the cup."

"But you remember lots of the challenges on the way." Another part of his brain said, sounding a bit like Neville.

Prison-circle, sphinx, mist mirage, acromantula, devilsnare, tiger-trap, manic mushrooms-

Harry shook his head to clear the litany before it went too far. This was only making things worse, he was actually remembering more things the longer he thought about it.

"You could go to the judges." A Hermione shaped brain cell said. "Just tell them what happened honestly, it was just a mistake after all."

"Yeah, how would that go…" Harry rolled his eyes. "_You see I was eavesdropping on you and I found this bit of paper…_" Harry shook his head.

He could share it with the other champions… Look at the map in its entirety and give copies to the Fleur, Viktor and Malfoy. But that ran into the problem of virtually ensuring that he'd lose the task. Ten minutes head start isn't that much when you're going into a maze blind, but when you know the way? Harry shook his head, Malfoy or Fleur would have the cup in their hands before he even got through the front door.

That was the question wasn't it, Goldilocks style…

He wasn't against cheating a little (using the marauders for research, overhearing about the dragon), but having a direct map to the finish line was just too much. That porridge was much too hot.

On the other hand he wasn't so obsessed with fairness that he'd just hand the cup to Beauxbattons. Fleur was nice, and he didn't mind some of the other girls, but there was no was he was letting that oversized bitch-queen Maxim have the satisfaction of winning. That porridge was far too cold.

And the one that was just right was…

"It doesn't exist." Harry slumped dejectedly. "Because the bear cub had been killed by poachers and its gall bladder sold as medicine."

"I could just burn it now…" Harry thought suddenly. "Accept that I have a slight advantage in knowing what challenges are coming and burn the rest. I'm last anyway, I deserve a helping hand."

Was that porridge just right? Depends what part of his brain he was trying to satisfy.

"Any more of this and my brain _will_ be porridge." Harry dropped his head to the table and banged it repeatedly against the hardwood surface. "I'm no good at these questions."

Accept it, sometimes questions have no answer.

"Or no good one at least." Harry shook his head. "Screw it, _Incendio!_" Harry burnt the scrap of parchment to ash. "Close enough to fair. And I do deserve some help after Dumbledore stiffed me in the second task."

"You're still cheating!" Hermione-brain admonished him.

"Put a metaphysical sock in it." Harry grumbled at her and stood up from his table. "Sometimes real life isn't fair."

Harry turned and pushed open the hidden doorway he'd used to get into this place before slinking off down the corridor with his hood up. It was way after curfew but Harry seldom worried about such things, even Mrs Norris' ears couldn't pick up Harry when he was trying not to be heard.

Speak of the devil…

Harry skillfully slid into an alcove as the caretakers cat came into view around a corner. She was stalking, tail in the air and her head close down to the floor. Moving in the high-speed-slinking manner of a cat on a mission.

What was she hunting? Not rats, the castle was clean of them. Harry disillusioned himself and began following the stalking feline. She seemed almost confused, she would slink for a few feet then stop and sniff the air, occasionally batting at it with a paw, before slinking forward again.

Harry followed her cautiously. Was she tracking a student? Who else but the marauders were out of bed at this kind of hour?

Suddenly Harry froze, a dark sliver had just appeared in mid air above the scraggly cat. A moment later there was a flash of red light and she slumped to the ground. Harry tried to stay perfectly still as the stunned kitty was pushed behind a suit of armor by the invisible presence. Harry saw the bottom half of a boot, visible for a spilt second, then nothing. Not for the first time Harry wished he had Moody's artificial eye.

The young marauder strained his ears and just caught the scratch of boots on stone and followed at a crouch. Disillusionment was no substitute for a true invisibility cloak, if whoever it was looked back at the wrong moment they would spot him for sure. Harry tried to stay in the shadows as he furiously tried to come up with a plan. He wished he could drop back far enough to call Myrtle, but if he did that he'd lose the intruder for sure.

Harry could almost see the shadow of the man he was following when he passed a torch in the wall. Not even an invisibility cloak was perfect after all so Harry could pick out the basic shape. It did not bode well.

"Whoever this is they're a full grown adult." Harry cursed silently. "Which means they're either a teacher, in which case why sneak around, or they're no supposed to be here. And their readiness to curse a defenseless cat doesn't exactly speak to their character either."

The sound of footsteps stopped and Harry too came to a halt, pressing himself up against the wall so as to be less visible. The man seemed to have stopped outside one of the teachers quarters. Harry saw the wand appear a second time and a moment later the door glowed a myriad of different colors, a rainbow in the dark corridor. The spell was quickly canceled and the wand withdrawn. The man sounded like he was sitting down to consider the problem.

Harry however grinned impishly. He'd just remembered whose door this was. Only one teacher was paranoid enough to put that many locking spells on their door. Harry slinked backwards quietly, it would take whoever-it-was a good long time to get through that lot and even if he did Moody could take care of himself.

Harry took himself a few corridors away then tapped out a signal on the stone floor. After a moments waiting Myrtle appeared through the floor.

"Something the matter Harry?" She said, looking over his camouflaged self.

"Go to Dumbledore, quickly." Harry whispered. "Tell him someone is breaking into Moody's rooms. Someone invisible."

Myrtle's eyes widened and she darted away quickly. Harry turned and slowly made his way back to Moody's rooms.

When he returned Harry's heart skipped a beat. The door was open!

Harry scrambled to his feet, heedless of the noise and dashed to the door. He slid to the entrance just in time to hear the words,

"_Avada Keda-_"

"NO!" Harry yelled and threw himself forward. He struck something in the air and saw a flash of green light. Time went slow as Harry saw the bolt crawl through the air, rippling its sick green path towards the bed at the far end of the quarters. The light lit Moody's face and Harry could have sworn he was the teachers eyes flicker open before the bolt struck home and the room was plunged into darkness again.

A moment later he hit the floor, the murderer dropping beside him with a thump. Harry kicked wildly and felt his foot hit flesh. He jumped to his feet and pulled his wand out of his jacket. But his assailant was faster.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

Harry dropped to the floor as the green bolt shot over his head. The shadowy figure aimed again, and this time Harry had nowhere to go.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

"_Accio!_" Harry yelled desperately, pointing at a side table. It flew towards him and caught the green spell in mid air, showering Harry in huge splinters. "_Depulso!_" Harry waved at the wooden shards and they shot away from him like shrapnel.

Harry heard his enemy scream as one of the splinters stuck in mid air. Harry threw himself at the floor beneath it and felt himself hit leg. The invisible enemy tumbled to the floor again as Harry staggered to his feet.

"_Lumos!_"

Harry was caught off guard and the spell hit him like a flashbulb, blinding him and making him stumble back in surprise. He heard running feet and took off in pursuit, fending himself off the suddenly blurry doorway and dashing off down the corridor after his quarry. Harry flicked his wand up to his throat as he ran.

"_Sonorous!_" Harry amplified his voice and yelled, "Murder! Murder in the castle!"

Harry had to dodge as a bolt of red light flashed down the passage ahead of him.

"_Offucia!_" Harry jabbed his wand forward and a stream of deep red paint sprayed across the corridor. A blot of it hit in mid air. Harry grinned and aimed again. "_Ferio!_" The bludgeoning curse flew true and Harry saw the painted figure lifted off the floor and hurled into the wall. Harry threw two more into the prone figure as he approached. Harry spotted the mans wand on the floor and kicked it away from him.

"Now let's see your ugly face you bastard." Harry panted, out of breath. "Come on off with it!"

The figure didn't move, perhaps he'd knocked him out?

"_Accio cloak!_" Harry flicked his wand and the cloak shot up. It sprang into Harry's hands, knocking his wand to the side.

"_Effodio!_"

Harry was thrown to the floor as the spell hit him, sliding across the stone in a daze of pain. Through the red mist he heard a sinister chuckle. The cloak was pulled from his suddenly powerless fingers. Harry tried to turn his head to see his assailant but a rough hand pushed him back down into the floor.

Harry tried vainly to push himself to his feet at the murdered turned and hurried away but the floor seemed to be strangely slick. Harry brought a hand up and faintly registered red. The paint that he had thrown or blood? Harry tried to focus on the floor in front of him and saw something slimy lying on the ground next to him. Long, coiled and bulging like a snake that had just eaten a pack of rats. Harry traced it back and almost passed out when he saw where it was coming from.

It was flopping out from a gaping hole in his stomach. The slimy thing was his own intestines.

The pain hit Harry again, harder then before. It was as if, now that he knew he was cut open, his mind was finally registering the injury. His hands moved involuntarily, pulling the fleshy coils towards him, his body vainly trying to fix what his brain knew was a killing wound.

"Mr Pot… Oh Harry!"

Behind a mist of red Harry saw professor McGonagall's face come into view. Her usually stern face was contorted with fear and shock.

"_Effercio._" McGonagall waved her wand over him and Harry felt his guts reel themselves back in like a hose. Harry looked down and couldn't stop himself from vomiting at the visage of his entrails slipping in through his skin.

A moment later it was over and the wound closed up, showing up only as a raw red line on his skin.

"Who used an entrail expelling curse on you Potter?" McGonagall asked, her shock still evident in her voice. "And what is all this about murder?"

"Dumbledore." Harry panted, pained. "Get me to Dumbledore."

"For once you are talking sense." Harry felt himself lifted up off the floor then set back down on a stretcher that the Professor must have conjured right there and then. The stretcher itself was lifted then and Harry saw the walls around him begin to move. Harry tried to shift position but as soon as did a spear of pain hit him in the stomach.

"Do not try to move Harry. Please." He heard McGonagall's concerned voice from behind him. "The counter-curse only puts you back together, it doesn't reverse all the damage that was done along the way."

Harry lay obediently still as they moved through the darkened corridors. Harry wasn't sure how much longer it took but eventually they stopped and he felt a shadow fall over him. Harry pulled his head up enough to look around and found that they were outside the Hospital wing, Dumbledore was standing over him solemnly in a purple dressing gown. Behind him the three remaining Heads of House were standing, looking his way. Off at the edge of the lamplight Harry could see the Triwizard judges. Maxim towering up into the shadows of the roof, Karkaroff with the angles of his face stark in the candlelight and Crouch standing silently beside. Harry turned back to Dumbledore.

"I lost him." Harry said through a raw throat.

"Harry…"

"I followed him for ages but I…" Harry coughed heavily into his hand. When he could speak again he continued. "I screwed up, made a stupid mistake. I let him get away."

"Harry you cannot be held responsible." Dumbledore shook his head. "I should have come to your aid instead of going to Professor Moody first. I should have known you would chase after the intruder."

"Moody…" Harry felt his heart drop into his boots. "That's my fault too. I thought it would be alright to leave for a few moments. To give you a signal. It's my fault he's dead."

"Ah," Dumbledore broke into a smile. "I think I have some good news for you Harry. Professor Moody is not dead."

"Wha…" Harry shook his head in confusion. "But it was the killing curse!"

"As near as Madam Pomfrey can tell either the caster had no experience with Unforgivables or he was unable to complete the spell."

"I hit him." Harry cast his mind back. "Before he could finish."

"Well there it is then." Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder. "You almost certainly saved his life."

"Wait…" Harry's eyes widened. "Map! Your map! If you look it-"

"My thoughts exactly Harry. And my fault as well," Dumbledore shook his head. "I waited to make sure Professor Moody was alive before checking the map and by that time whoever it was must already have left."

"No," Harry shook his head. "A followed him ages and I must have hurt 'im. He couldn't have left that quickly."

"The fact that our enemy knows of the existence of the map may explain that." Snape said, detaching himself from the shadows. Dumbledore shot his potions master a surprisingly angry look. Perhaps this was a fact that Dumbledore did not want Harry to become aware of. Snape continued, unruffled. "Maybe the dark lord has found a way to circumvent it."

"We do not know that Voldemort is directly involved Severus."

"We do not know that he is not." Snape crooked an eyebrow.

"Perhaps." Dumbledore conceded. "But in any case he cannot circumvent the map. There are very few things I am confident in the infallibility of, but one of them is the mar-… the map."

What had that been? Harry wondered. That little pause before 'the map'.

"Then an illegal portkey perhaps?" Snape was saying.

"Could ask Mr Crouch to look into it." Harry suggested. "What with his ministry cont-"

"Thank you Harry," Dumbledore cut him off. "I will consider it."

"Had any luck with the ministry yourself?" Harry asked pointedly, mainly to see the look on Dumbledore's face. He was not disappointed.

"How did you…?"

"Persuading them he's on the way back I mean."

"I… I do not know how you have heard of that Harry." Dumbledore said, he sounded like he was keeping some deep anger in check. "But it is none of your concern. Right now you need to be seen by Madam Pomfrey."

"But-"

"This is not a discussion Harry." Dumbledore flicked his wand and the stretcher began moving.

As he floated into the hospital wing the last thing he heard was Snape turning to Dumbledore and saying,

"_Now_ do you think we should warn the order?"

Dumbledore's response was too quiet to hear but his nod said enough.

"Potter."

Hm…

"Oy Potter!"

Sleepy…

"Wake up!"

Stupid Hospital. Harry cracked his lids open and saw Moody staring at him from the next bed over.

"I'm up." Harry rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What is it?"

"Sloppy Potter, very sloppy." Moody shook his head. "You let him get away."

"Sorry," Harry hung his head. "I made a lot of mistakes last night."

"List 'em."

"What?"

"You heard me Potter, list 'em." Moody lay back on his hospital bed.

"Well…" Harry thought back. "I thought it would take longer for whoever it was to break through your door."

"Underestimating your opponent." Moody shook his head. "Stupid, first mistake."

"He tricked me with a _Lumos_ spell, blinded me." Harry continued.

"Inattentive. Unprepared."

"And I made the stupid mistake of getting my hands tangled when I summoned his cloak to me."

"Clumsy." Moody tisked. "Wouldn't have thought that of you Harry."

"You're right, I was hurt but that's no excuse." Harry shook his head and frowned. "I kicked his wand away but he must have had a spare."

"Always assume they have a spare." Moody said sternly. "_Accio wands_ or _Expelliarmus_. Use them whether you think he's got a wand or not."

"Right, I shoulda known that."

"Constant vigilance." Moody said harshly. "You can never be too careful."

"Constant vigilance." Harry repeated. "I know, and I'm sorry I got you involved in this."

"You assume this has something to do with you?" Moody said, a little chuckle in his voice. "I had enemies before I met you."

"How many have invisibility cloaks."

"More than one." Moody said pointedly. "And more that have the funds to get one if they needed it."

"I thought they were rare."

"They are Potter." Moody grinned. "I just tend to make expensive enemies. One of the risks of the job."

"Ok," Harry closed his eyes. "How many of them are about six feet tall, skinny and bony with dark brown hair who fights smart and has experience with espionage and breaking through wards."

"Brown hair?"

"Think I saw a flash of it when the cloak came off."

"Doesn't mean much. Could have colored it."

"Why disguise yourself then wear an invisibility cloak?"

"True." Moody frowned thoughtfully. "Still doesn't mean he's connected."

"Still, bit of a coincidence."

"Oh don't think I'm dismissing it." Moody shook his head. "Not for a moment." Moody tried to push himself up on his hands then winced in pain and settled back down.

"Still feeling a little cursed Professor?"

"I'll be fine." Moody grunted. "I've had worse. Least the killing curse doesn't scar."

"Um…"

"Not for _most_ of us." Moody laughed, then broke into a loud, wet cough. "Maybe I will be out of commission for a while."

"That means we'll have Snape again." Harry sighed. "And well… He's not so bad any more."

"He's tall, and has dark hair." Moody pointed out suspiciously.

"I'd know his voice." Harry dismissed the accusation with a wave of his hand. "Besides he's not evil."

"Constant vig-"

"Not evil. Used to be evil, not evil now." Harry held a finger up. "Besides, he's had all year to try and kill you. Why now? And why with spells in the middle of the night when he's had access to your food all year."

"Good point. But I still don't trust him."

"You don't have to," Harry shrugged. "Just accept that I do."

There was silence for a moment as Moody regarded Harry pointedly.

"What?"

"Nothing Potter." Moody lay back, an amused smile on his face. "Just reminded me of someone is all."

Harry shrugged and leant back too. He had enough puzzles without trying to work out what that meant.


	32. Spirit of Njordr: 9

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 9: Mazes

Harry was let out of the hospital wing a few days later with orders to take it easy and only eat liquid food for a week or two until his insides settled down. Harry was alright with this except that the occasional stabs of pain from his midriff rather got in the way of him training for the third task. Harry adopted the attic above the library as his own and sealed the doorway with the password cheating scumbag so he and the marauders could have a private place to train.

Harry gutted the room as efficiently as he himself had been gutted to leave a large dueling space in the middle. While his gang searched the library for anything remotely useful Harry practiced anything they found against the twins or against the broken bookshelves they had found up there. Harry accepted that he would never be an awesome dueler but at least he could aim for competent. It did eat into the time he could spend with Susan but unfortunately it was inevitable.

Given that Harry had totally ignored Madam Pomfrey's advice to take it easy it was perhaps also inevitable that he would end up back in the hospital wing after throwing up bloody vomit.

"Mr Potter you idiotic…" Pomfrey spluttered incoherently as she dosed him with various potions. "In all my years… never… so stupid! Not even your father with all his pranks was in here so much. At least he seemed to understand that the human body has certain _limitations!_ You cannot just keep heaping abuse on it and expect it to keep working properly!"

"At least I'm giving you a challenge." Harry grinned.

"A challenge? More like a stroke!"

Harry was once again discharged a few days before the third task, finally fully healthy. Of course not everyone treated him as such.

"You sure you're alright Harry?" Ron repeated for about the billionth time as they walked to lunch.

"No Ron," Harry rolled his eyes. "I've miraculously had a relapse during the last twenty seconds."

"Harry you throwing up blood." Padma pointed out. "You don't just bounce back from that."

"I'm not bouncing." Harry shrugged. "Or bounding, or any other b-words. I'm just eating lunch."

"You're boring." Harry turned to see Malfoy standing behind him. "That's a b-word."

"I'm many things Malfoy." Harry responded sardonically. "But boring isn't one of them."

"Is bastard?"

"Anything in particular bothering you Malfoy," Harry asked. "Or did you just come to insult me?"

"Yes," Malfoy grew serious again a moment later. "Mind if I speak to you in private…" Malfoy jerked his head towards an empty classroom.

"This isn't going to be one of those good discussions is it." Harry hung his head dejectedly.

"No I don't think so."

Harry sighed and followed the blonde Slytherin into the empty classroom.

"Meet you in Charms." Harry nodded to the worried looking marauders before closing the door and turning to his fellow champion.

"Anyone dead?" Harry asked bluntly.

"Not yet."

"Ominous."

"You don't know the half of it." Malfoy shook his head. "I finally got that letter from my father."

"I assume that's not the last of it." Harry sat down at a desk and braced for the worst.

"He told me to lose. Worse, he told me to make sure you win."

Harry leant back against the desk and covered his face with his hands. Sometimes all this was too much.

"What _exactly_ did he say?" Harry rubbed his temples. "Or better yet give me the letter."

Malfoy handed over the missive. Harry flipped it open and read the curt message within.

_Draco_

I know that you are to enter a maze in the third task. You will make every effort to halt the progress of Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. Use the spells I taught you if necessary. Do not worry about the consequences, I will protect you. Make sure the Potter boy wins the tournament. You do not have to understand to obey.

There was no signature. Harry handed it back, resting his head on his arm.

"The spells I taught you?" Harry asked tiredly.

"Dark magic." Malfoy answered, sounding just as worn out. "He means don't be afraid to hurt them. 'You do not have to understand to obey.'"

"What does that mean?"

"It was one of his favorite things to tell me when I was young." Malfoy shook his head. "It tended to end discussions."

"Why?"

"Because it told me that he wanted the discussion to end." Malfoy snapped.

"Look Malfoy I don't know what to do with this." Harry admitted. "I've already got enough on my plate."

"I know what that feels like." Malfoy sat down beside him and bowed his head, making his floppy blond hair drop down and hide his face. "I don't know what to do."

"What do you-" Harry jerked back in shock. "You're not thinking of listening to him are you?"

"He's my father!"

"He's a git who makes you miserable!"

"You don't understand." Malfoy snapped angrily. "You just don't. Maybe if you had a father you'd get it, but you don't so shut up!"

"If you're trying to get rid of me it won't work." Harry crossed his arms. "Or at the very least you'll have to try harder."

"But you _don't_ understand." Malfoy said more reasonably, but still with an edge of desperation in his voice. "I'm sorry Harry but you just don't. This isn't about getting a bloody pat on the head. This is about _family_. It's about family honor."

"No, family honor would be getting your name on that cup. Family honor would be seeing the headline 'Malfoy wins triwizard cup'." Harry shifted closer. "But forget about that, how about your own honor. Can you live with knowing you could have won the triwizard tournament, but gave it up? Can you live with that?"

"The family is what's important." Malfoy shook his head. "Sometimes we have to do things we don't like. You don't have to understand-"

"You're like a parrot." Harry interrupted, changing tack to go for a riskier plan. "Aren't you tired of repeating his crap?"

"You don't _understand!_" Malfoy yelled, pushing him back violently.

"Oh great," Harry scoffed. "The cry the moody teenager. Nice to know you're like everybody else."

"Screw you Potter!" Malfoy stood angrily, his fists bunched at his sides. Harry could see the faint glistening lines of tears of his cheeks.

"You gonna cry about it." Harry slouched back, chuckling. "Way to preserve the Malfoy honor."

"Shut up!"

"Is this what you did with that Ellen woman? Cry into her apron?"

"I told you to shut up!" Malfoy drew his wand and held the shaking point to Harry's neck. Harry just laughed.

"Like you'd actually do it." Harry rolled his eyes. "You're too much of a coward to-"

"_Praefoco!_"

Harry was thrown backwards as the spell hit him and was left gulping for air as the curse closed his airway. From behind a haze of floating spots Harry saw Malfoy stalk off out the door. Harry managed to grab his wand and get out a strangled _finite_ before collapsing on the floor and trying to refill his lungs in great gasps.

"You deserved that." Harry looked around for the source of the noise. A moment later Myrtle floated slowly up through the floor. "You definitely deserved that."

"I know." Harry croaked out, managing a half smile. "What are you doing here?"

"The others sent me down because they were worried about you?" Myrtle put her hands on her insubstantial hips. "You really were incredibly insensitive."

"All part of the plan." Harry winked.

"How so? You don't even know what he's going to do."

"I know one thing he's not going to do." Harry grinned. "There's no way he'll let me win now."

The day of the third task finally arrived. Harry got out of bed and dressed in a sort of odd trance. People said and did things around him, patting him on the back and speaking to him but it was almost as if the universe had become background noise, though background to what he couldn't say.

His mind was… well not blank but certainly not thinking along normal lines. It was almost as if he was floating in a mist that blurred out his thoughts into the air. Instead of the crisp, semi-schizophrenic, edge they usually had they were vague and cloudy. Primitive, he decided, was the best word for them. A throwback to when humans thought with feelings and pictures instead of words.

Also he was being introspective, he was never introspective.

"Are you sure you're alright Harry." Someone asked him. Harry had to concentrate quite hard to work out it was Neville.

"I'm fine Nev." Harry nodded slowly. "Just in a bit of an odd place right now."

"You look kind of… Well remember last year when you kept skipping through time?"

"I remember." Harry shook his head. "That's not this. Believe me, I'm fine."

As the other competitors went to the great hall to meet their families Harry wandered back up to the attic over the library and flicked through the same books he had been going through for the past few weeks. It was sort of pointless really, Hermione always said that last minute revision didn't stick in your mind like it should. Not that she didn't do it anyway. Harry sat down on the cracked floorboards with the books strewn around him and tried to pull his thoughts together.

He failed utterly.

"Enough." Harry growled at himself. "Get your head together."

"Have you been moping up here all morning?" Harry's head flicked up and he saw Susan Bones standing in the doorway.

"I have not been moping." Harry said, from his position on the floor. "I have been studying."

"You never study." Susan smiled.

"I never study _schoolwork._" Harry grinned. "My independent studys however are pretty extensive."

Susan walked up to him with her hands behind her back coquettishly and sat down beside him. Harry flicked his book closed and shifted closer. He momentarily wished for a softer floor.

"You know studying at the last minute rarely helps."

"You have something you'd rather I be doing?"

"Yes."

As it was Harry almost missed the task. It was only the sound of movement from the floors below that prompted Harry to push his girlfriend off him and scramble for his glasses. Rushing downstairs he managed to managed to blend into the crowd without looking too conspicuous.

"Nice hicky Harry!"

Damn.

Harry flicked his collar up and kept walking, throwing an evil glare at the snickering students. As he walked towards the stands he felt an element of the old fuzziness slipping back into his mind. He shook it off, a good snoging session had been just what he needed to bring him back down to earth. He noticed Malfoy making his way to the quidditch pitch alongside an older blond woman. His mother? So his father hadn't turned up. Interesting.

Harry pushed his way through the crowds to where the other champions were waiting.

"Well this looks fun." Harry grinned up at the towering hedges.

Fleur shared a smile with him. Krum just grunted and stayed silent. Fleur's eyes flickered to his collar and after a moment she laughed quietly. She drew her wand and beckoned him closer.

"'arry, lean down." Harry obliged and she tapped her wand on his neck where the purple bruise disappeared with a quick popping

"Use that one a lot?" Harry teased.

"Any man who bruises my skin does not touch it again." Fleur replied haughtily.

"I mean on other people."

"Oh," Fleur winked cheekily. "Then yes, quite often." Harry laughed.

Harry watched the branches of the maze as the fat judge (Bagman?) explained the rules. Harry listened with half an ear. The wind was picking up, making the hedges shift ominously. Harry closed his eyes and tried to marshal everything he'd learnt over the past few weeks. Scratch that, over his entire life.

Harry heard a whistle sound and felt the movement of the air as someone ran past him. It must have been Malfoy. Harry lowered himself to the ground, sitting cross legged on the grass.

Another whistle sounded. Fleur.

_Prison-circle, sphinx, bogart, mist mirage, flagrante curse, acromantula, devilsnare, tiger-trap, manic mushrooms._ Harry went through the list in his head along with the defenses against them.

Third whistle, Krum.

Harry lay back on the grass and blocked out the sound of the crowd. He was going to win, then he was going to sort out everything else. The crowd was chanting, '"Seven!", "Six!", "Five!"…

Harry breathed deep.

"Four!"

This wasn't so hard.

"Three!"

Ok it was hard, but it was doable.

"Two!"

On the other hand this grass was pretty comfy.

"One!"

Oh well, here goes…

"Go!"

Harry shot to his feet and dashed directly into the darkness of the maze. The noise of the crowd was gone almost instantly and he was totally alone. Well, alone except for the sphinxs and acromantula and bogarts, but they weren't there yet. Harry drew his wand and tapped his foot.

"_Theseus._" Harry said clearly. The sole of his shoe glowed. Harry dropped it back to the floor and saw it make a glowing red footprint. "_Point me._" Harry held his wand flat and saw it spin to point vaguely forwards.

Harry sent prayers of thanks to Zeus and Hermione before setting off at a run down the dark passage. He reached a junction, looked behind him to check that he was still leaving a trail, then did the point me spell again and ran off down another passage.

He was moving so fast he almost didn't see the leaves covering a portion of the pathway. Harry skidded to a halt just before it, his boots scraping at the edge. Harry carefully lifted a small branch and looked down into the dark pit underneath, it seemed like the bottom had been coated with something sticky and goopy. Honey? Nah… they wouldn't have filled the pit with honey, plus he would be able to smell it. Something like that though. Harry carefully replaced the branch incase another champion happened by and skirted around the outside before continuing on his way.

Another turn landed him on a long straight stretch that went generally in the right direction. Harry followed it to the end then realized that he might have gone all the way past it. Harry cursed and holstered his wand before pushing his arms into the hedge and lifting himself off the floor. He climbed up until he could put his head over and scout out the center. Almost due north. Harry scrambled back down and set off at a run.

Another junction passed without event, then another, then ano- Damn it!

Harry rolled under the massive hand as it swatted the air above him. Harry took one look at the hulking winged beast that has swung at him, (looking something like a cross between a troll, an alligator and an eagle covered in ivy and slime) and decided it wasn't worth fighting. Harry sprinted away to gain some distance then spun and yelled,

"_Eizuckerpeitsche!_" The chasing thing disappeared in the expanding ball of fluffed egg product. Harry grinned and kept running.

Harry reached the next junction and slowed to a crawl. Two of the entrances had strange archways over them. Harry stopped, he didn't remember this from the map. He hadn't recognized the mutant beast either, perhaps this was part of the map that he'd just failed to look at.

Harry cast the point me spell and groaned as it pointed almost directly at one of the arches. He cast a revealing charm over the arch and found several tripwire hexes. Harry picked up a nearby branch and brushed them away like spider webs, ignoring the pops and flashed of the spells as they triggered. Then he threw it aside and stepped through. Nothing happened. Harry grinned and stepped forward before stopping and looking back.

It shouldn't have been that easy.

Harry stepped back up to the arch and realized what was wrong. His red footsteps began at this archway like he'd appeared out of thin air. Looking back into the junction Harry saw his footprints trailing up to the _other_ arch.

"Ah, tricky." Harry grinned and knocked the tripwires from this arch as well before stepping through it back into the courtyard and walking through the other arch.

The point me spell told him he had indeed guessed right and he walked on. He was beginning to get worried though. This was taking longer than he had thought it would. He turned a corner and was met with a shocking sight.

Draco was down on his knees with his back to one of the hedges. He seemed to be trying to crawl back into it, his shoes scrabbling ineffectually against the ground. Advancing on him was Lucius Malfoy in full back robes, a silver scull mask hanging around his neck. The father and son were locked onto each eyes neither of them looking away. Harry wasn't sure either of them were even blinking.

"_Ferio!_" Harry shot his favorite hex at Lucius. But somehow it just flew through him like he was mist. Lucius turned on Harry and he saw the tall wizard ripple before he was incased in a column of water.

Some part of Harry's brain screamed that it was a boggart, that tried to force him to speak the spell to banish it. But the rest of him was panicking as hard as it ever did and wouldn't listen. He gulped in a long mouthful and felt himself choking.

"_Ridiculus!_"

Harry fell to the ground as the water became party balloons. Harry looked up to see Malfoy, still crouched on the floor, with his wand out.

"Thank you." Harry croaked out.

"How in Merlin's name did you survive the second task?" Malfoy said breathlessly.

"Blind arrogance." Harry forced himself to his feet and offered a hand to help Malfoy do the same. Harry dusted himself off and set off towards the goal. Malfoy fell into step beside him.

"Did you meet the Bugbear." Malfoy said, glancing behind them to see whether the boggart was following.

"Nope." Harry shrugged. "Met what I think was a Jabberwocky though."

"Really?" Malfoy seemed impressed in his dry way. "What did you do?"

"Encased it in meringue." Harry grinned, then frowned. "I've noticed you're not cursing me. Last time we spoke you were cursing me."

"Oh that, did you really think I'd fall for that for long?" Malfoy shook his head. "I worked out what you were doing the minute I got back to my common room."

"Guess I'm not as smart as I thought." Harry shrugged. "So does that mean you're going to… what was it… _halt the progress…_ Of Fleur and Krum?"

"Haven't met either of them." Malfoy replied, then added dryly. "It's like a _maze_ in here."

"Oh ha bloody ha." Harry rolled his eyes. "Well if you… stop walking."

Harry threw a hand out in front of Malfoy, who stopped instantly, raised his wand and began scanning the corridor of leaves they were walking along.

"What? Where?" Malfoy asked tersely, glancing around.

"You hear that?"

Scrit… scrit…

"That little… metal… sound?" Malfoy stepped back, closer to Harry's back.

Scrit…

"Like someone sharpening a knife?"

Scrit…

"Yes."

Scrit… scrit…

"Oh great." Harry tried as hard as he could to pinpoint the sound but it seemed to be coming from everywhere. "I think there's more than one."

"More than one _what!_" Malfoy's head was now jerking from side to side like a dog watching a tennis match.

Scrit… scrit…

"Stay still and listen!" Harry gritted his teeth. The noises sounded… high? Harry's eyes flicked up to the highest branches. Not for the first time he wished he had Moody's eye.

Was that a flash of movement? Harry concentrated, it was like trying to see through that cheep one-way glass. The stuff that's just regular glass with strips of mirror threaded through it. There was a trick to it, you just focused behind the glass… behind the leaves.

"Oh bugger." Harry's eyes widened. "RUN!" As soon as Harry moved the hedges exploded.

Darts rained down, peppering the two fleeing boys. Harry screamed as the needles hit his flesh and jerked his hood up over his head. It didn't help much.

"Waito imps!" Malfoy yelled, following behind him. "Damn!… Ow!… Bloody!…"

Harry dashed away, the litany of swearwords following close behind. He at least tried to steer towards the center of the maze but it was hard when running at full tilt.

Scrit!

"Aaah!" Harry cried in pain as a dart stabbed into his cheek, the point going straight through. Harry pulled it out with another angry cry. "Right! That DOES IT! Malfoy, back to back!"

Harry felt the Slytherin move into position.

"_INCENDIO!_" Harry slashed his wand in a wide swathe, burning the dry branches.

"_Incendio!_" Malfoy yelled behind him.

"No!" Harry held up an arm to block another volley of darts aiming for his head. "You shield!"

"_Protego!_" Malfoy made no attempt to argue, a fact Harry truly appreciated.

"_Incendio!_" Harry cut another swathe through the branches and apparently hit something this time as a mad squeaking cry went up and another dark rainbow of darts flew up to drop on the two teenagers. Harry forced himself to trust Malfoy and made no attempt to block them. Instead he aimed directly at where they had come from.

"_Confringo!_" Harry saw the curse hit the burning branches and explode in a fireball, raining sparks down on them. Both the sparks and the darts bounced easily off Malfoy's shield. The screeching grew louder and more panicked (like a violently squeezed guinea pig) then grew fainter as the imps retreated, scurrying and swinging through the hedges like gibbons. Harry's shoulders sagged and he let his wand arm drop to his side.

"That was a good plan." Malfoy said breathlessly. "Good plan."

"Well you know my shields couldn't keep off _rain_ let alone this." Harry pulled a dart out of his upper arm where he hadn't noticed it. "You think these are poisoned?"

"Unlikely." Malfoy shook his head, still trying to catch his breath. "Waito imps aren't really that smart. Cruel, but not smart."

"Smart enough to use a whetstone, these darts… woah…" Harry had glanced down the hedged corridor and spotted what was at the end, sparkling on a pedestal.

The triwzard cup.

"We made it." Harry breathed. "And I only had to get my cheek pierced."

The two of them began to walk forward, not speaking. Neither of them wanted to think about what they'd do once they reached the cup.

Unfortunately the universe provided a distraction for their dilemma in the form of something infinitely more awful.

They both saw her at the same moment, blue robes falling over her slight frame and her blond hair spreading out in a fan around her. She was sprawled at the far side of the clearing, one hand stretched out towards the cup as if she had been reaching for it as she fell.

Fleur...

Harry moved first, pushing her up on her side and putting two fingers to her neck for a pulse. He waited there a long time, the light draining out of his eyes as it already had from hers. When he finally turned back to his companion it was almost too much effort to speak.

"She's dead."

Absolute silence reigned for a moment.

"No… no she can't be." Malfoy shook his head. "You did it wrong."

"Malfoy she's not even warm." Harry rolled her onto her front and crossed her arms across her chest. He eased her hair off her face, breaking the caked on dirt, and closed her eyes. Harry closed his eyes too, it didn't even seem real.

"Half an hour ago she was healing a love bite off my neck." Harry could still see her wink in his mind. "She was smiling."

"This isn't happening." Malfoy interrupted behind him, shaking his head manically "It's… it's like a trick! It's the last challenge before we take the cup."

"THEN TAKE THE BLOODY CUP!" Harry raged out, feeling hot tears streaking down his face as he spun around to face Malfoy. "Just take it so we can get out of here!"

"I…" Malfoy stepped back hurriedly, then turned to the cup. "But don't you want it?"

"I wanna go home." Harry said, a little pathetically. "Just take the cup. Please."

"N…no." Malfoy stepped back. "You take it."

"Draco…" Harry shook his head. "Don't listen to your father, for once just… take something for yourself."

"You deserve it more."

"I cheated."

"So did I."

"I cheated more." Harry shook his head, the tears coming freely now. "I had a map."

"You're trying to play me again." Malfoy said, still sounding panicked. "If you'd had a map you'd have got here quicker."

"Just take the bloody cup!" Harry wailed. "Can't you see I don't want it anymore!"

"I…"

"Here!" Harry grabbed his arm. "Like this!"

Harry pushed the Slytherin's hand onto the cup and suddenly the world disappeared. Instead it was replaced by a swirling vortex of color and light.

Portkey! Oh god oh god oh god.

Harry just about had time to realize how badly he'd screwed up when he was dumped on a cold stone floor.

Harry pushed himself up on pained arms and looked around. He was in the middle of a hall, marble floors and columns, all in black and white marble. Even the great doors at either end were black, ominous portals twice as tall as a person. The only color in the room came from the vase of roses on a table near the door, and a massive tapestry that hung up one massive wall. It was a family tree he realized, must have stretched back centuries, fancifully decorated with birds and dragons and other images. Harry took all this in in a moment but still only had one thing to say.

"I just wanted to go home."

"The strange thing is Potter." Draco said warily. "I am."

"Eh?"

"This is Malfoy manor."

"Quite correct young Malfoy."

Harry whirled towards the sound of the voice but a spell took him in the chest and he was thrown back down to the hard stone floor. Through the fuzz of tears he saw three robed figures approaching from the top of a staircase.

On the left Greyback lopped, his savage eyes trained on Harry. On the right, Lucius Malfoy, absentmindedly fingering a long white glove he was wearing. And in the middle…

"Oh my god." Harry put his hand to his mouth. "You're back."

"Yes Mr Potter I have returned." Voldemort smiled his reptilian smile. "I said I would did I not?"

"I believe a told you to come back prettier." Harry said, slowly raising himself up from the floor. "I see you failed to take that to heart."

"A defiant sentiment that would be perhaps more heroic if your face wasn't lined with tears." Voldemort stepped towards him, passing his two servants. As he brushed by them Lucius gave a little quiver and rubbed his gloved hand. A giant snake, like a python, curled on the ground nearby but made no move to follow the dark lord. Voldemort reached the floor and stopped, he made a twisting motion in the air and Harry's wand skittered across the marble tiles and jumped into his hand.

Harry cursed under his breath, he hadn't even realized he'd lost it. It must have been knocked out of his hand when he fell.

"Heroics don't interest me." Harry found his feet, his eyes already darting around. Trying to find an exit. "But you could at least have fixed the nose."

There were the two huge doors but he'd be dead before he reached them. A smaller door by the staircase but that meant running straight towards them. The staircase itself didn't bear thinking about. Harry's eyes flicked to Malfoy, frozen on the floor, his face an unreadable mask. Voldemort followed his gaze and turned to the Slytherin.

"I am surprised to see you here young Malfoy." The dark lord said, towering over him. "You were ordered to make him take the cup, not to take it yourself."

"Ung…." Malfoy swallowed, his mouth working wordlessly.

"Come now, you have nothing to fear." Voldemort bent down, bringing his head closer to Draco's. "You have done me a great service."

"He… he… he wouldn't take the cup." Malfoy stammered. "He must have thought something was up. I had to grab his arm and push him into it."

Harry prayed that none of the black robed wizards had noticed who had been hanging onto who's arm when they had tumbled to the floor a moment ago.

"Why do you think he suspected?" Voldemort was staring directly into Malfoy's eyes.

"We found Fleur." Malfoy said, still apparently frozen to the floor. "She was lying dead next to the cup. He thought it must have been the cup that killed her, some kind of curse."

Not bad Malfoy, not bad at all.

Voldemort stared into the boys grey eyes for a moment longer, then nodded, apparently pleased.

"Our agent at Hogwarts must have had to kill her to stop her taking the cup." Voldemort placed a long finger under Malfoy's chin then stood, bringing the boy up with him. "A shame he could not dispose of the body but I suppose he was having to operate from outside the maze. And in any case the result is the same, Harry Potter is here. You have done your master a great service young Malfoy, almost as great as the one your father performed for me."

Again that twitch towards the glove. Maybe some sort of weakness he could exploit?

Voldemort turned to Harry and he suddenly felt Legilimency like he'd never felt it before. It was like an axe was being applied to the back of his brain.

Fight back! He screamed at himself. If Voldemort worked out that he and Malfoy were anything other than worst enemies then the blond would die along with him. Harry tore his eyes away but a moment later his face was jerked back forwards. Voldemort was holding him with magic somehow, his head felt like it was stuck in a vice.

Blank mind! Harry repeated to himself. Blank! His hand found the shell necklace under his robes and he hung onto it in desperation, pouring every thought into the little nub of whiteness. Slowly, ever so slowly, the knives receded.

"Amateurish Mr Potter." Voldemort released him and he slumped to the floor. "But unfortunately effective."

"Screw… you… snakeface." Harry panted.

"It does not matter." Voldemort dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Your childish tricks will not save you this time."

"Tricks like stabbing you through the eyes?" Harry grinned evilly. "I never got a chance to tell ya, but when they squished all this gross slime came out. Honestly, it was like popping two huge blackheads. Squish…"

"And yet I live." Voldemort spread his hands. "And will continue to do so. I am immortal Harry Potter. All you did was weaken me and push me back to being a bodiless soul."

"Squish…"

"I had to survive again by possessing lesser creatures. Creatures beneath me, vermin and snakes. Until Greyback found me, sniffed me out in the wilds of Albania."

"Squish… squish… pop…"

"Realizing I needed a more competent servant I had him bring me to Lucius, my servant of old." Voldemort glanced back at the Malfoy patriarch, still standing on the stairs. "Who did me three great services. First he was able to make me a first potion that restored me some level of physical form, but one that was wretched and weak. A disgusting and disfigured parody of my former power."

"So you _did_ come back prettier."

"Secondly…" Voldemort ignored his quip like a tolerant father while smiling a smile that never reached his eyes. "He made me aware of another servant I could use, one that would be able to-"

"Infiltrate Hogwarts." Harry interrupted. "Put my name in the cup?"

"Five points to Gryffindor Mr Potter," Voldemort drew his wand. "But minus ten for interrupting. _Crucio!_"

Harry had time to steel himself before the pain hit and rode it out without too much trouble. It still left him gasping and horse but his mind was clear of the usual shadows and confusion left by the extreme pain. At least he was well practiced at that.

"It all becomes clear." Harry said, picking himself off the floor. "So you've been here, weak, the whole time. At Malfoy manor."

"Until Lucius was able to complete the second potion, a few months ago." Voldemort smiled. "And he was able to render his most _personal_ service."

The twitch to the glove was not even subtle this time. Suddenly Harry had a thought.

"Ellen Hayward." Harry saw all eyes, especially Draco's on the floor, flick to him. "That was you wasn't it. She was a friend of this family. This god forsaken family." Harry added, in case anyone started wondering how he'd come by this information. "The kind that pops by unannounced. Did she pop by at the wrong time?"

"Yes, a fact I regret." Voldemort shook his head, though Harry would be dammed if he saw a trace of remorse on that twisted face. "She was of a true pure blood house, and an institution in her own right. She will be sorely missed."

"I'm sure you'll shed a tear every year on the day you poisoned her." Harry spat back, then smiled a another neuron fired. "And Rita Skeeter? She was looking for a scoop on the triwizard champion. Tried to sneak in."

"Was that her name?" Voldemort twitched his head to the side as he smiled self indulgently. It struck Harry as a wholly snakelike gesture. "I do not stop to ask the names of insects I kill. And besides, in her case I did you a favor. You should thank me."

"I'll send some flowers." Harry replied acidly.

"And now I am finally ready to come out of the darkness." Voldemort said rapturously. "And I have just one question to ask you."

"Boxers."

"You have been a stimulating enemy Harry." Voldemort held out his hand. "And the Potter family is old and proud. Your mothers blood is an issue but… not an insurmountable one. I can offer power beyond your wildest dreams Harry, if you join me."

"Ok."

"You… what?"

"Ok. The robe comes free right, I don't have to buy it?" Harry began to chuckle, unsuccessfully hiding it behind his hand. "Got good promotion prospects? Where do you see me in three years?" Harry began laughing in earnest, the only sound in the deathly silent hall.

"So I take it you refuse." Voldemort said coldly.

"Yes, you snake faced, impotent, wanker!" Harry choked out between giggles. "Did you honestly believe my answer would be yes? And anyway, what demented logic makes me _thwarting_ you a good qualification for joining your ranks?"

"I thought you might be persuaded to see reason." Icicles could have grown on Voldemort's words.

"Well Tom, I guess we were both wrong." Harry grinned. "Oh no wait! Just you."

"What did you call me!" Voldemort stepped forward, bristling with anger.

"What… Tom?" Harry smiled. "Tom Marvolo Ri-"

"_Crucio!_"

Harry hit the floor but blanked his mind at the same time. He watched his body writhe dispassionately from a point behind his eyes. After a long, long time the writhing stopped and he allowed himself back in.

"Don't try to speak." Voldemort was saying. "I took you almost to the limit of what a mind can take."

"That was the limit?" Harry pushed himself up from the floor. He knew it was masochistic but… "Then why not go for the record… Tommy."

"You…!"

"Tommy boy." Harry grinned. "Is that really the best you got?"

"_Crucio!_"

Harry couldn't honesty say how long he lay there behind his own eyes. Longer than the first time certainly. But eventually the pain stopped and he allowed himself back in. It took him a few moments to reorientation himself, his muscles ached and his throat was raw. His body had suffered even though he'd managed to buffer his mind.

"You see my friends." Voldemort was saying, his back to Harry. "I have broken his mind just as I will break the wizarding world to my will."

Harry tried to think whether he had a weapon on him, with the snake's back turned he might have a chance.

"Sire! He's awake!" Greyback barked. Damn werewolf eyes.

His cover broken, Harry slid up onto his knees and looked up into the shocked red eyes of Voldemort.

"I… hav…" Harry couldn't get the words out. He licked his lips and tried again. "I have been burned by time itself, Tom Riddle. Don't ever think you scare me. Not ever. You're nothing."

The room was deadly silent. Voldoemort stared at him, confusion evident on his face, then smiled and let out a little laugh.

"Oh how melodramatic." Voldemort mimed clapping. "Quite well done, I could almost think you had some power over the cruciatus. But you don't do you, you're simply using occlumency. Sealing the pain away, or sealing yourself from the pain. Very well done, I didn't think you had that degree of skill."

"Your mistake." Harry tried to smile but the muscles in his mouth didn't seem to want to so he settled for a rictus grin. "You make a lot of mistakes don't you Tommy?"

"Do not say-"

"And that's the other reason I can't work for you." Harry did manage the grin this time. "I'd get tired of _incompetent_ management."

"Really." Voldemort's voice was silk over razors. "Then perhaps I should show you the true power of lord Voldemort. Perhaps I will show you that your will means nothing!" The word nothing cracked like whip and Voldemort drew his wand. Harry felt his arm pulled forward against his will.

"Let me give you something you can't block out." Voldemort stabbed his wand down onto Harry's arm. "_Morsmordre!_"

Harry stared at his arm in shock, at first there was nothing, just a darkening of the skin. Voldemort stepped away, smiling. Then, slowly but surely, the mark faded out of nothing. Growing blacker and more defined by the moment. Then Harry felt his hand clench, the mark seemed to writhe on his forearm. He watched as the darkness spread, like tentacles down every vein, making his hand look like it was encased in black ivy.

The darkness advanced, following the blood up his arm. Harry couldn't stop himself from scratching at it furiously, trying to slow its progress. Voldemort laughed. The black lines came up his shoulder, across his chest. Then they hit his spine, and the agony began.

Rods of hot iron, knives of fire stabbing into his back. Reaching higher and higher as the curse curled up into his brain. Couldn't block it out, it was coming in under everything. It was everywhere. Harry saw spiderwebs grow across his eyes as the curse worked its way into the tiny veins. The pain was everywhere now, pulsing up his spine and into every screaming little synapse. It couldn't be stopped.

Harry escaped the pain the only way he could see how. He lowered himself down and smacked his forehead against the floor as hard as he could.

He heard Voldemort laugh before it all went black.

Severus Snape leant back in his chair and considered the lunacy of an entire school, guests, ministry officials, press and assorted other hangers on turning up to stare at a hedge.

"It's not as if they can even see anything." Snape muttered under his breath.

"Eh, what was that Severus?" Flitwick turned to him from the seat to his left.

"I said I was wondering how much longer Mr Malfoy intends to keep us waiting." Snape said, without missing a beat.

"Still pinning all your hopes on your own house?" Flitwick said slyly.

"Well why wouldn't I?" Snape rolled his eyes. He had reconciled with the Potter boy but that didn't change the fact that he was a Slytherin to the core.

"I personally think Potter will beat him to it. Not a student like him." Flitwick said proudly. Snape rolled his eyes, hearing Flitwick crow about Potter's charms ability was a constant irritation.

"What _is_ taking them so long?" Professor Vector said from the other side.

"The fact that it is a _maze_ and not a footrace?" Snape said irritably. "There are obstacles in there you know and in any case it has only been…" Snape pulled his sleeve up to look at his watch.

"What is that?" Filius leant his tiny frame over.

"A wristwatch. They are… quite useful." Snape said faintly.

"Oh… But shouldn't you be looking at the other side?"

"Other side…" Snape stared at his wrist, the watch forgotten as his eyes bored into the black shape standing proud against his pale skin. "No… no no no."

Harry came to lying in something sticky. Blood or vomit? It was beige and it looked like it had peas in it. Probably vomit.

Harry raised his aching head and looked around. His glasses were lying a few inches away, he reached for them and drew them up to his face. Be blinked a few times, at first he though he had gone cross-eyed, then he realized that there really were more than three robed figures in the room.

They were all around him, arranged in a circle, all with deaths head masks on except for Voldemort himself. Harry's eyes found Draco, standing a little outside the circle, he seemed to be expending a lot of effort hard to keep his face blank.

Harry turned back to Voldemort and tried to make his mouth work.

"Still not as bad as the Torrent." A dark mutter went up from around the circle. Harry found a dry part of the floor, set his hand against it and pushed. He managed to raise himself high enough to jerk a foot up and lay it flat on the floor. Slowly, surely and against the protests of his aching muscles, Harry stood.

"Well done Harry." Voldemort folded his arms. "And I thought you would be all out of dramatic, defiant and _pointless_ gestures."

Harry's leg spasmed and he was almost tipped back onto the floor. He staggered for a moment then found his feet again. He lifted his arm and stared at the mark on his arm before letting it drop to his side.

"That means nothing." Harry shook his head, causing shooting pains to run up and down his spine. "You put a pretty tattoo on my arm it doesn't mean anything."

"It means I own you Harry Potter."

"I've got a Hungarian horntail on my chest does that mean it owns me too?" Harry grinned, his sense of humor was coming back. He couldn't stand up straight but he could one-liner for England. Harry looked down at his shaking body. "I notice I'm not dead yet? Do you still _actually_ think I'll come over to your side?"

"You are still alive for one reason only." Voldomort drew his wand. "To tell me something."

"I already told you boxers."

"_Crucio!_"

Pain. Block. Fading. Floor. Blankness. Time…

"Well…" Harry stood again, working the kinks out of his shoulders. "We've established that you don't learn quickly."

"Potter I have humored you thus far." Voldemort stepped closer. "It stops now, how much does Alasor Moody know?"

The question caught Harry off guard.

"Wha?"

"_Crucio!_"

Harry waited then sunk back, finding that this time he'd landed with his face squarely in the vomit puddle.

"Lovely." Harry wondered if it was worth standing. It was fairly clear he wasn't leaving this room alive, unless by some miracle Moody, Snape, Dumbledore or maybe the ministry found him. He certainly couldn't leave by his own steam, not the shape he was in. Not without a wand. In that case the best thing he could do was stall the psycho in front of him for as long as possible, and that meant… "Hold on, I'm getting up…" Harry lurched to his feet.

"I know Moody was investigating poor Madam Hayward's death-"

"Her murder." Harry corrected.

"_Cru…_" Voldemort raised his wand angrily, then let it fall, the curse not even fully formed. He hissed in irritation. "I know he was investigating it. I know he was doing so at your urging. How much is he aware of?"

"Why the hell would I tell you snakeface?" Harry shrugged. "We've already established that you're incapable of torturing me."

"Really, well let us see how you cope with this." Voldemort smiled evilly. "_Imperio!_"

Harry felt the curse enter into like a parasite, shooting into his brain and wrapping it in candy-floss. He tried to block it out but it was tricksy, it found gaps in his blocks. Little wiggling tendrils like roots, finding a little gaps then growing, splitting his brain apart.

_Tell me everything._

Harry tried to shake it away, vainly,

_How much does he know?_

Why not tell him? Harry drew his hands up to his head, he knew that voice was wrong but he couldn't remember exactly why.

_Tell me._

Tell him?

_Tell me._

"Don't!" The Neville voice in Harry's mind broke through the fuzz. Waving it's little mental arms and shaking it's head. "It's Voldemort Harry! Voldemort!"

_You will tell me!_

"Are you being intentionally dense Harry?" Hermione shouted at him from the other side.

But the nice man wants me to tell him something. Harry blinked like an owl and rubbed his eyes, too much was happening in his head.

_Tell me now!_

"It's Voldemort Harry! VOLDEMORT!" Padma hissed in his ear.

_How much does Alastor Moody know!_

"He killed your parents!"

_Tell ME!_

"Can't you see him?"

_YOU WILL TELL ME!_

"ALL OF YOU STOP YELLING!" Harry shouted and dropped to his knees. The voices disappeared and Harry was just left as he was. A scared teenager in a room full of murderers.

"All of who Potter?" Voldemort said in his slimy patronizing voice. "No one is talking."

Harry just stayed on the floor and tried to breath.

"What is the matter Potter." Voldemort slid closer. "No jokes, no witticisms?"

Head feels like concrete.

"Maybe now you will tell me what I want to know." Voldemort stepped up so he was right on top of Harry. "Maybe now-"

"Please." Harry muttered through clenched teeth.

"What was that Mr Potter?" Voldemort leant down.

"Please no more." Harry shook his head and held a hand out towards the dark lord.

"Are you ready to tell me?"

"Yes… yes…" Harry stretched his arm out further, pawing at Voldemort's robes pathetically. "I'll tell you… THIS!"

Harry's fingers clamped down on a skinny leg and he pulled, putting all his weight behind it. Voldemort fell backwards, his face contorted with rage and anger. Cries of horror came from all around but Harry ignored them. He grabbed up and caught Voldemort's wand out of the air and yelled,

"_AVADA-_"

Harry was hit from all sides by curses and was thrown back into darkness.

Snape's head snapped to the side as he saw a shining lynx spring through the wall.

"He's not at any known location from the last war. " Shacklebolt's deep voice came from the patronus. "I'll keep looking."

Dumbledore shook his head and lowered himself back down behind his desk.

"We should be doing something." Minerva was pacing back and forth across the floor of the headmaster's office. If she had been transformed her tail would have been twitching irritably.

"She is right." Snape shook his head. "I could answer the summons, maybe find a way to warn-"

"No." Dumbledore shook his head. "We have discussed this."

"And you have unreasonably dismissed it!" Snaps snapped. "You clearly intend for me to spy for you in the future anyway so why not-"

"Severus! I have made my decision." Dumbledore stood sharply, slamming his hands down onto his desk. In the background Fawkes trilled sadly. "We need to reconvene the order. Minerva, see if Alastor has recovered yet and contact the Weaseys, Lup-"

"For what?" Snape interrupted. "So we can have even more people sitting on their hands while Harry dies?"

"Severus…"

"No Dumbledore. No…" Snape stood to face the old wizard and crossed his arms. "You have ten seconds to give me a compelling reason why I should not go to the boy's aid. Otherwise I am leaving."

"Severus there is no need-"

"Nine."

"Threats will not-"

"Eight."

"You are being unreasonable."

"As are you. Seven."

"I forbid it!" Dumbledore said through gritted teeth.

"Six. It is not yours to forbid."

"You are risking your life!"

"It is mine to risk!" Snape snapped cutting his hand through the air like a scythe. "And you are down to five."

"This could ruin everything Severus." Dumbledore said, suddenly seeming panicked. "If we truly have war on the way I will need eyes among the death-eaters. By doing this you risk exposing yourself."

"Also my choice to make. Not yours." Snape shook his head. "And have you thought of how will the loss of the boy who lived effect this war? Perhaps spared a thought to what it would do to people's morale to see the living evidence of Voldemort's mortality die? Have you thought of that?"

"Trust me Severus." Dumbledore's voice was harsh and low, with dangerous undertones. "That the fact that Harry gives people hope is never far from my mind. But-"

"By rights you've had ten seconds by now." Snape interrupted. "But I'll give you one last chance."

"Severus please…"

"Not good enough." Snape turned and stalked towards the door.

He kept expecting to be stopped, some spell or last ditch argument, but none came. He closed the door behind him and allowed the moving staircase to take him down. As it moved he summoned his patronus, it's little pointed head and it's tiny forked tongue sniffing the air.

"I'm about to do something very dangerous." Snape said to it softly, pushing his words into it. "I don't know if I'll return, but it's something I feel I must do."

Snape licked his lips, this wasn't going well. He should just keep it short.

"I love you." Snape cursed his bluntness. "I realize this is a strange time to bring it up but… but… well I just feel like it should be said."

Snape waved the snake away and it sparkled through the wall, heading south towards London.

"Albus?" Minerva asked softly after the Potions master had gone. Dumbledore hadn't moved or spoken, he was just staring off into space. "Albus?"

"Look in on Alastor." Dumbledore repeated. "And contact Lupin. I will do the rest." He was still staring at the door, his sharp eyes boring into the old wood.

"I understand." McGonagall stepped towards the door, then paused. This was not easy to do but… "Albus…"

"Hmm?"

"He's not wrong you know." Dumbledore stared at her. McGonagall couldn't hold that gaze for long and turned to leave the room.

"Potter… Oh Potter… Time to stand up again."

Harry's eyes cracked open and he looked up into Voldemort's face. His whole body ached from the layer cake of curses that he had suffered over the last hour. Or was it longer? He had such a shaky grasp of time when he was unconscious. Harry managed to raise his head and look around.

Yep, still in the same place, surrounded by nasties. Or… wait… was there one more of them than before? Harry's eye's scanned around the circle of dark robed figures. Maybe it was his imagination. That or the pain was making him hallucinate.

There was one difference, Draco was no longer lurking idily behind the lines. He was standing in the center, just a few paces from Voldemort. He was facing Harry and he had his wand.

"Come on Potter." Voldemort urged. "Up! Up! Where's that Gryffindor spirit?"

"I'm not a Gryffindor." Harry muttered. "I'm a marauder." But apparently Voldemort didn't hear him.

"Now we can't have you lazing around all day Potter. Up!"

Harry felt himself lifted off the floor and dropped back onto his feet. His knees buckled and he stumbled, only to be pushed upright again by the invisible force. He fell the other way, his hands coming up to stop himself but again he was caught and flung upright. He tottered but managed to hold his balance on shaking legs.

"That's better." Voldemort said indulgently.

"Why the hell haven't you killed me." Harry groaned weakly. "Is it just sadism?"

"Oh you will die Mr Potter." Voldemort smiled. "There was never any question of that. I intend your death to be the final sign to the world that I have returned, the seal for my immortality and retribution for what happened on Halloween fourteen years ago."

Seal for my immortality.

_Seal for my immortality?_

What the hell did that mean? Harry filed it away for later.

"So yes Harry you will be killed. I was going to give you the gift of a painless death, and I would have killed you myself after your ill advised escape attempt."

"_Murder_ attempt." Harry said darkly. "I never expected to live. Just hoped to take you down."

"The Gryffindor spirit returns." Voldemort smiled. "But you would be dead except for one thing. I would still like to know how much the old auror knows. And young Malfoy here seems to think he can make you tell me."

Voldemort stepped back and let Draco come forward.

He has a plan. Harry overrode all doubts in his mind. Every little sly voice saying that Malfoy had betrayed him was squashed in an instant. It didn't matter if he was wrong, it didn't matter if he was being too trusting, because if he was wrong he was dead anyway. Harry decided he would rather hope.

"You really should tell him Potter." Draco said. "You know that. I don't really want to do this to you."

"Just do what you have to do." Harry dropped his head to his chest and waited for whatever was coming.

"_Depulso!_" Harry flew through the air and impacted onto one of the marble walls with a painful thud. "_Adhaereo!_" Harry sagged as the sticking charm took effect, hanging a clear foot above the floor.

"Familiar Potter?" Malfoy smirked as he sauntered over. "I think a bit of payback is in order."

He has a plan. He has a plan.

"_Bullabazooka._"

The bubble head charm? What the he… Oh no!

"_Augmenta!_" Malfoy stuck his wand through the bubble and Harry felt water begin to fill the shimmering sphere.

"What are you doing boy?" One of the death eaters called out harshly. But Voldemort silenced him with a wave of his hand.

The water was up to his nose and Harry was beginning to panic. He jerked his head frantically, trying to dislodge the bubble. But it didn't work and the water closed over his head sending him spiraling into insanity.

He tried desperately to maintain some shred of willpower or sense as he breathed in the water in great gulps. But anything he had went out the window as waves of pain coursed out from his chest, settling into every cell of his body. With his mind in tatters he was unable to block it out.

A moment later the bubble popped and Harry was left coughing and wracked with pain.

"You see I had this brilliant idea." Malfoy was saying cheerfully. "Just because you an block out the cruciatus curse doesn't mean we shouldn't use it. It just means we have to find some way to weaken your mind. A good dose of paralyzing fear for example."

Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He just hung there and panted.

"So just tell your Lord what he want's to know and this suffering can end."

Why not?

"Just tell him!" Malfoy yelled. "Fine then, lets try this again!"

Harry screamed as he was drown then plunged into a world of pain once more. By the end he couldn't even move. Didn't have the will. He really was betrayed, all hope was gone.

"I don't want to have to do this Potter." Malfoy smirked. "But you've insulted my master, and I take such things seriously. After all, this is a true old pure blood house."

A light came on in Harry's brain. That last phrase, 'old pure blood house', why use that phrase? Where had he heard…

When he'd hit the wall… had it sounded a little… hollow?

Harry breathed deeply. If he was right he would have to hope that willpower could replace strength and stubbornness, muscle because in a few moments he would have to _run._ Harry tried to move his legs as much as he could on the wall, working the cramps out in preparation.

Why hadn't Malfoy done it yet? Harry lifted his head up. Malfoy was just standing there waiting.

He needs a reason, Harry realized. He can't just do it out of the blue, he needs a reason.

"Malfoy…" Harry licked his lips. "Old pure blood house? That's a joke. Your father didn't tell you? Your mother was a whore."

"_Reducto!_"

Harry braced himself and screamed as the spell hit his chest. The marble sheet behind him shattered and he was thrown into the passage beyond.

MOVE NOW!

Harry found some muscles and, as curses started sparking against the wall above his head, started to run.


	33. Spirit of Njordr: 10

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 10: Three Bodies

"Where is Harry!" Ron yelled. "Why the hell won't you tell us?"

"Mr Weasley calm down." Professor McGonagall spread her hands calmingly. The marauders had ambushed her outside Dumbledore's office. Normally she would have taken house points for the bad language, but this seemed like an exceptional circumstance. "If I knew I would tell you."

"You're trying to find him though." Neville asked desperately. "Dumbledore's doing everything he can?"

"Everything that can be done is being done." McGonagall answered. "No get out of my way-"

"Please Professor." Padma stepped in front of the teacher. "We're not useless. Look at all we've done. We know this is serious. We know this is awful, Fleur is already dead. We know you're trying to help but so are we. And we're not useless. So use us."

McGonagall took a deep breath, ready to lecture them. Ready to brush them aside.

"Please," Miss Weasley pleaded. "There must be something we can do."

"We just want to help." Padma added with the others nodding behind her. "We need to do something."

McGonagall took another breath, this time to ready herself.

"Go to the hospital wing." She could see the lights come on in their eyes. "If Moody is able to be moved have him taken to the Headmasters office. Then corral the prefects together and help them get everyone back to their common rooms."

"Is that it?" Ron asked hurriedly.

"Yes." McGonagall paused, in for a penny… "No. Mr or Miss Weasley, one of you go to my office and flue your parents. Tell them Dumbledore needs them. Tell them it's for 'The Order'."

"Dad'll be at work."

"Get them wherever they are." McGonagall snapped. "Make nuisances of yourselves until you get them. You know how to do that. And find Viktor Krum and watch him. He was the only other one in that maze, if he tries to run off. Stop him."

"Got it." Ron nodded and McGonagall strode off. As she went she could hear them breaking themselves into groups to take the different tasks.

Harry's foot skidded on a bottle as he pelted down the dusty corridor holding his aching chest.

"Which way'd he go?"

"Split up!"

Harry slowed down enough to become silent and ducked under a low beam. He took another turn. And another.

"Another bloody maze." Harry thought as he reached a small staircase down. It ended in a massive underground storage room, piled high with boxes and crates. There was a suit of armor, complete with sword, in one corner and what looked like a stuffed alligator shoved up against the back wall. Even stranger things were piled haphazardly all over the place, strange devices, giant bones and artifacts covered with motheaten dustsheets. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Harry managed to get behind a box and collapsed down on the floor. He couldn't run anymore, not without passing out again. The words of Madam Pomfrey floated out of his subconscious…

_The human body has certain limitations. You cannot just keep heaping abuse on it and expect it to keep working properly._

He had reached those limits. He had passed those limits. Harry leant his head back against the rough wood. Unless he found a way out of here soon and got some medical attention there was very real chance he would die anyway. If there _was_ a way out of here. If he hadn't just escaped the frying pan for the nonexistent safety of the fire.

Harry's eyelids drooped. So tired…

"Stop you!"

Running feet!

Harry jerked awake in a moment. Someone was in the room. More than one someone.

"Got you you little… _Petrificus Totalus!_" Something thumped against the floor. They weren't after him? Harry leant out from around his box.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_"

Draco was caught off guard as the spell smacked him from the side. In that instant he knew he was dead. He felt his petrified body scrape along the floor as his momentum carried him into a pile of rotted bags.

"Well little boy…" Draco saw a masked face come into view. A moment later the mask came down and the cruel face of Walden Macnair. "You're like a little rat aren't you. Well you've reached the end of the run…"

Draco could only stare at the evil smirking man leaning over him.

"We're going back to the dark lord boyo." Macnair stood and flicked his wand down towards Draco. "And then you can see what happens when you try to put one over on the dark lord. Oh you'll… oh… oh… o…"

Macnair had frozen, little gulps of sound popping out from his mouth. His wand fell from his limp fingers as a thin trickle of blood began seeping from his lips. He blinked in confusion, and turned towards the door.

Revealing both the foot long blade embedded in his back and Harry Potter.

Malfoy could only watch as Harry dropped to one knee and scraped Macnair's wand off the floor. He stood again, with obvious effort and croaked,

"_Finite Incantatem…_"

Malfoy felt his limbs go slack and he pushed himself to his feet.

"Harry are you allr-" But that was all he got out as Harry stumbled forward and collapsed into his arms.

"You'd better know some healing charms."

Harry hadn't meant to collapse onto his friend, his knees had just refused to work anymore. He found himself unable to do anything other than hang limply as Malfoy dragged him behind a box and propped him against the wall.

Harry couldn't even speak as Malfoy left again. A moment later he returned, dragging the body of Macnair.

"Thanks." Malfoy whispered.

"Owed you one." Harry felt his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Why was he trying to get you?"

"What do you mean _why?_"

"I mean I…" Harry had to break off as he was struck with a wracking cough. When he brought his hand back from his mouth it was spotted with blood. "I assumed you would try to pass my escape off as an accident."

"Harry…" Malfoy shook his head. "Do you know what Voldemort does to people who make that kind of mistake?"

"Evisceration…" Harry grinned. "I'm betting evisceration."

"As a start."

"So we've become rats in the walls." Harry tried to move his legs again, they jerked a little. "Does this wall have an exit?"

"Tunnel that goes to a field south of here." Malfoy nodded. "My father doesn't know about it."

"But you do?"

"Oh please. I practically lived down here before I came to Hogwarts." Malfoy hesitated. "You got my hint didn't you?"

"_'Old pure blood house'?_" Harry chuckled painfully. "Old pure blood houses used to have wizard servants. Wizard servants need servants passages. I got it."

"Good. Good…" Malfoy nodded again. He seemed to be looking for something. Hoping…

"Shall we go then?" Harry grabbed the wall and tried to stand. He got about a foot off the floor before his legs gave out and he fell back to the floor. "Did you have to _reducto_ me so hard?"

"You're blaming this on me?" Malfoy stepped closer and lifted Harry's arm over his shoulder. "You were the one who kept calling Voldemort _Tommy Boy_."

"It was irritating him."

"_Exactly._"

"Wait…" Harry stopped as they staggered out from behind the packing crates. "Can you get me to a sky?"

"A… a what?"

"I mean a window." Harry shook his cobweb infested head. "A window or a skylight or something. I just need a… way to see upwards."

"Alright Harry." Malfoy started moving them forward. "I'll humor you."

Harry saw where they were headed, a large chimney. When they reached it Harry dropped to his knees in front of it.

"What are you doing Harry?" Malfoy asked. "We need to move, they'll find us."

"We need people to know." Harry slid himself onto the cracked tiles. "We need to get Dumbledore or someone or Moody or someone or-"

"I get it." Malfoy sounded confused. "But they'll have closed the flues."

"Not what I'm planning." Harry stabbed his stolen wand into the air. "Just giving them a sign they can't ignore.

"What si-"

"_Morsmordre!_"

Harry was bathed in sickly green light as the spell erupted up the chimney. As it hit the sky Harry saw it blossom out and form the glowing scull.

"There," Harry grinned. The blood on his face and the light filtering down from above gave him the look of a drown corpse. "Now we can go."

"You're insane Harry."

"So I'm told."

"Let me through!" Krum tried to push past the twins and was thrown back.

"Nope."

"I just vant to go to the bathroom."

"Nope."

"I vill not try to run!"

"Nope." George shrugged. "Sorry pal."

"Don't you know who I am?"

"Yep." Fred folded his arms. "You're Viktor Krum."

"Quiditch hero."

"Triwizard champion."

"Babe magnet."

"Winner of Witch Weekly's least charming smile award."

"Moody bastard extraordinaire."

"Now ask who we are."

"You… you…." Krum spluttered incoherently. "Who do you think you-"

"Glad you asked." George grinned. "We are part of the marauders."

"We are Harry Potter."

"We are his eyes and ears."

"His good right hands."

"And if you think you're getting past us." George drew his wand. "You've got another thing coming."

"We have not found them master." Crabbe lowered his head in shame.

"Obviously you have not as they are not here." The dark lord snarled and turned his wand on his cowering servant. "_Crucio!_"

Snape tried to remain dispassionate as the death eater screamed in pain. It was far far harder than he remembered. He was very thankful of the mask that covered any slips in his expression.

"And you Lucius?" The dark lord turned on the blonde wizard. "Surely they cannot hide from you in your own home?"

"I have asked the house elves to-"

"House elves? _House elves!_ You leave a task I gave you to house elves?!"

Snape felt his stomach clench and sent a silent prayer that it was not him at the receiving end of that anger, or the punishment that followed it. Had it always felt like this? Surely not… he remembered being almost eager for this work, gaining a sense of triumph that he had hoodwinked the dark lord. Now he just felt scared, scared and small and frozen like a rat. He just wanted to get out.

"And you Severus…"

No…

"You who come crawling back to me late and unapologetic."

"I have explained Master-"

"And I have excepted your explanation." Dismissed with a wave of his long pale hand. "Or else you would not be here. I am not displeased that you can remain my spy in the order."

"I live to please you my lord." Oh lord let me leave this place safely.

"And you have taught Harry Potter and the traitor Malfoy for the past four years." The dark lord said thoughtfully. "Where would they go?"

"Malfoy I cannot speak to." Snape shook his head. "His defection came as a complete surprise to me-" No need to lie there. "-so I do nor presume to predict his future actions."

"And Potter…" Impatient, soon to be anger.

"Potter is a rat. He will go to ground." Snape lied quickly. "We have searched the secret passages but Potter has also shown a preference for the rooftops-" and is not stupid enough to hide there where there is no escape. "-we should check there."

"Master!" Snape was interrupted as frantic wizard dashed in from the garden. "The dark mark has been cast!"

"What! I gave no orders to cast the mark!"

So who… Oh smart boy. Snape felt the muscles in his face twitch, wanting to break into a foolish grin.

"Master," Snape felt those red eyes turn on him. "Potter may have cast it himself to warn the ministry. It is the sort of thing he would do."

"That…" The Dark lord looked almost impressed. "That is surprisingly resourceful."

"You are… pleased my lord?"

"It is pleasing to have an opponent who is not an old fool." The dark lord smiled. "I almost feel young. And besides this is only one aspect of my plan."

"My lord the ministry will-" Snape began but was cut off by a curt wave of the dark lords thin hand.

"The ministry will find us. " The dark lord looked off into the distance, his eyes narrowing. "Good."

"Thank you all for coming at such short notice." Dumbledore was speaking from behind his desk looking out over the office. "But the fact is that what I have feared has come to pass. Voldemort had returned."

The people crowding the office didn't speak, didn't murmur, they had expected this. McGonagall shook her head, if it wasn't for the horror of the situation it would almost be like old times.

"And Harry Potter and Mr Malfoy are both most likely in his clutches." Dumbledore shook his head. "We need to be ready as soon as we know where they are."

"How can we find him?" Molly Weasley said from the back of the room.

"Severus is trying to find out. If he can safely contact us he will." Dumbledore didn't stumble over the evasion.

"And if not?"

"Shacklebolt is also looking into it." Dumbledore held up a hand to stop any further objections. "Now you all remember what to do. Be ready to leave the moment we get the word."

The room was filled with nervous shuffling and muttering as people began shucking off any heavy or restrictive clothing or transfiguring them into garments more suited to combat.

McGonagall herself checked that her hair was securely out of the way before casting some prophylactic charms against minor hexes. She glanced towards the door to the tower. A marauder would undoubtedly be stationed outside, waiting for news. She thought of going out there, but what was the use if they knew nothing more.

"They know." Minerva turned to see the tired face of Mad Eye Moody. "They're good kids."

"They know what?"

"That we're doing everything we can."

"Are we?" Minerva felt like a traitor for voicing that though.

"Can you think of anything else?" Moody shook his head and sighed. He was leaning rather heavily on a cane. McGonagall had seen him when Longbottom had lead him up here. The auror had practically been leaning on the kid. Moody noticed her looking and growled. "I'm fine. Nothing a little fight won't cure. Warm the old muscles up."

"Surely you yourself don't intend to-"

"If we can drag bureaucrat from their desks and housewives from their kitchens and expect them to fight like aurors then this _real_ auror is sure as hell going too." Moody shook his head. "We're not ready."

"We should be. We've had months."

"Well we're not. And it's too late now." Moody sighed. "You think we're too old for this?"

"If the old don't fight it falls to the young." Minerva glanced back at the door, thinking of a little black-haired boy with too many scars for his age. "And none of us want that."

"Guess not."

"Minerva!" McGonagall turned to see Dumbledore behind her. "Where is Lupin? I asked you to get him."

"It is full moon Albus." She saw a flicker of something strange cross the headmasters lined face. "You knew that. Didn't you…"

McGonagall was interrupted by the glowing lynx that burst in through the wall of the office.

"The dark mark was raised over Malfoy Manor!" Shacklebolt sounded hurried. "Aurors have already been dispatched."

"Fawkes!" Dumbledore held out his hand and the Phoenix fluttered over onto it. "Everyone take a tail feather. Be ready to fight the moment we arrive. Our primary task is to find Harry."

If he's still alive. Minerva found herself praying as she grasped a long feather.

Harry pushed the heavy wooden door open and felt the wind hit his face.

"We're out." Harry smiled as he leant against the doorframe, gulping in the night air.

"And you're walking on your own." Malfoy said encouragingly.

"Yeah." Harry rolled his eyes. "Give me a few more hours and I'll be running marathons."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Oh. So was I."

"I know."

"I was more obvious." Harry chuckled, then froze as he looked up at the sky. "Oh shit."

"What? Wha… Oh…"

The two teenagers stared at the full moon hanging just over the horizon. Harry reacted first.

"Move!" Harry pushed Malfoy away from the door and pushed it shut before slamming on three evil locking charms and an eviler curse.

"My dad doesn't know about-"

"Doesn't need to." Harry cut him off. "Greyback'll track us, probably already behind us."

As if on cue a rough bark sounded, echoing from deep down the tunnel.

"Then what do we do?" Malfoy had his wand out and was backing away from the door.

"Run." Harry ignored the ache in his legs and started towards the edge of the field and a small stand of trees. "Maybe we can lose them."

"Lose a werewolf? At night." Malfoy was easily keeping pace with him.

"We can try."

"We'll fail."

"Do you want to die right here?" Harry hissed angrily. "Fine, stay and get mauled!"

"We need a better plan."

"Well we don't…" Harry shook his head. "You're right. They can outrun us easily. We try to escape this way we're dead."

"So what?"

"I don't know!" Harry grabbed his chest as a stab of pain shot through him. "I don't know Malfoy… I'm sorry."

Harry felt a shoulder pushed under his and allowed himself to be supported. They would go faster like this anyway. Wait…

"Malfoy you go." Harry felt the other teenager slow to a halt.

"What?"

"If you drop me they'll find me. Take me back. Chance they'll ignore you." Harry let his head drop, he was just slowing them down. "It's the best chance for one of us to get out of this."

There was a long moment of silence. All Harry could hear was the sound of his own labored breathing.

"Stupid Gryffindors." Malfoy muttered under his breath before yanking Harry forwards.

"Malfoy…"

"Don't say it again Harry! Just don't!" Malfoy shook his head. "We're getting out of this! We have to because otherwise my father's won. You understand me Harry? And I didn't spit in the face of the dark lord just to see my father win."

Harry let himself be led in silence. A flash of light came from behind them, lighting up the dark field. Harry craned his neck and saw the doorway in the hill glowing a faint blue.

"How long do you think it'll take them to get through?" Malfoy panted.

"Not long enough." Harry shook his head. "We can't run. Won't work. We need to do something else."

"Like what?"

"Like fight."

As Harry began explaining he saw Malfoy's expression go from hopelessness to a vicious grin. They pushed further into the forest as another flash of light slashed out behind them.

"What the hell was that?" Auror Dawlish scowled.

"I didn't see anything?" Jandred said irritably.

Idiot never see's anything. Tonks found herself thinking and only just stopped herself from saying it out loud. Instead she said,

"I saw it too Dawlish."

"Of course you did." Dawlish rolled his eyes as if he assumed she was lying. "Just concentrate on the gate."

"Yes sir." Tonk's turned back to the gate of Malfoy manor, trying to ignore the glowing scull in the sky. She tried the normal unlocking spells, not really expecting them to work.

"Oh move over." Dawlish pushed her out of the way. "You'll never open it that way."

"I'd just starte-"

"Quiet trainee."

Tonk's gritted her teeth. Whenever Dawlish called her trainee he made it sound like an insult.

"If you're not going to do anything useful you might as well investigate that light." Dawlish sneered. "The one you saw."

"But sir the dark ma-"

"Probably vandals." Jandred shrugged.

"Sir?"

"I gave you an order missy." Dawlish smiled at her. "Go investigate the light. Leave this to us."

Tonk's didn't trust herself to speak. She just turned and apparated for the rough location of the light. She appeared a few feet above the ground and fell backwards as she landed.

"Ow!" Tonk's picked herself up and looked around. It was obvious where the light had come from. There was a door lying on the floor, blown off its hinges. Tonk's lit her wand and glanced over the area of bare dirt around the rough tunnel entrance. There were tracks all around, human and dog.

No… not dog.

Tonk's looked closer and cursed under her breath. Werewolf. And some of the other shoeprints looked like children. She sent a spray of red sparks into the air and set off in the direction of the hunt. She ran as fast as she could through the tall grass and only slowed as she reached the edge of the trees.

She had to, or she'd have crashed into the death eater.

Tonk's had her wand out and ready to curse before she realized he was in no shape to fight. One of his legs was trapped in a bear trap, he was writhing on the ground, his mouth open to scream. Silenced she realized. Tonk's stunned him and conjured ropes to bind him just in case. More red sparks in the air, not that she thought they'd be heeded, and she picked her way deeper into the forest.

Not a mile further she found another. This one a tree had engulfed. Only his legs were visible, hanging limply. He was clearly dead, suffocated.

Tonk's swallowed and kept going, carefully.

"Do you think Harry's alright?"

"I don't know Herm." Padma shook her head as she shepherded some first years towards their classmates. "I don't know."

"He usually gets out ok." Pavarti said with a weak smile. "I don't know… I just kind of always assumed he could survive anything."

"Everyone has limits. Even Harry."

"Then why has he never reached them?"

Harry pushed open the disused farmhouse door and staggered inside.

"Razorcurse on the doormat." Malfoy said quickly, breathing in little gasps. "Maybe collapse the place with them inside."

"No." Harry wrenched open a wardrobe and pushed it's contents on the floor before shoving it against the door. "We can thin them out with booby traps and curses but we'll have to fight them somewhere. Here's as good as anywhere. It's defensible, doesn't look like anyone lives here anymore."

"But Harry…"

"I'd rather meet them on ground I chose than in the middle of nowhere." Harry ducked into another room and pulled open a chest of drawers.

"What are you looking for?" Malfoy was nervously eyeing the surrounding woods.

"Anything we can use." Harry leant against the doorframe before pushing away and looking in what looked like the bedroom. "I don't even know… I'm just keeping moving."

"Shall I block up the windows?"

"Do it." Harry nodded. "Add something nasty if they try and get in. Then get upstairs."

"You think we can really get them?"

"Hope so." Harry grinned evilly. "I want to get me a wolfskin rug."

McGonagall fell out of the phoenix fire and instantly became her cat form. After scanning around with senses far better than her own she transformed back and nodded to Dumbledore.

"Alastor in front. Minerva, if you would back him up." Dumbledore motioned them forward. "Kingsly, bring up the rear."

McGonagall let Moody pass in front of her, his eye whirling in its socket as he tried to take in everything. She knew her part and transformed again to follow him. Her sensitive ears picked up the other members of the order following close behind.

The gate of the manor was wide open. Minerva saw Moody pause and mutter a few spells before stepping cautiously over the threshold. She slinked after him. They probably looked very much like Filch and Mrs Norris McGonagall realized.

The wide courtyard fanned out in front of them, a fountain quietly tinkling away in the center. There was a band of gravel around it, then grass, then flowerbeds. She saw Moody instinctively move to the side where the shrubs would give him cover.

Smell…

McGonagall lifted her nose to try to pinpoint it. Coming from the other side of the fountain. She pressed her belly down close to the gravel and slinked around the edge. She poked her little flat head around the corner and saw black cloth. Black robed sprawled on the ground. Vacant expression. Wand fallen from outstretched hand. They were aurors, or had been. Her eye landed on the sand next to the bodies and she shied back in surprise. A wing shape was scratched there in the dirt as if with a boot, a symbol the order used. She darted back in shock and transformed back.

"It's a trap!" She yelled, crouched behind the stonework. "The auror's are dead! He's-"

She was cut off as the fountain exploded, throwing her to the floor. She felt herself pulled sharply out of the way as the curses began flying.

"_Ferio!_" Harry shot out a window and ducked as the answering curse blew a chunk out of the wall. He looked across at Malfoy who was crouching under another window. "How many of them are there!?"

"I don't know Potter I'm not trying to _count_ them!"

"Bugger!" Harry popped up and aimed a spell at a patch of darkness before being thrown backwards as a fireball engulfed the window. "_Depulso flames!_"

The fire exploded outwards and Harry was pretty sure he heard someone scream in pain. Harry dashed to another gap in the walls and shot a stunner at a crouching shape on the ground.

"I think there's five of them!" Malfoy shouted at him. "Plus Greyback!"

Harry was about to answer but had to throw himself forward as the whole back wall of the house was ripped away. He had to duck as a storm of spells flew at him from the now unprotected back. Harry looked back and grinned in sadistic pleasure as he aimed his wand at the floating wall.

"_Finite!_" The expanse of brickwork dropped and Harry heard someone cry out. A cry that ended in the crunch of stone hitting earth, and flesh. "Got one!"

"At the expense of a wall!"

"Still got one!" Harry ducked behind a dresser and tried to ignore the way the floor was slanting. Harry looked out in time to see a figure trying to climb the stairway. "_Stupefy!_"

The death eater blocked his spell but Malfoy's caught him in the side and pitched him off the building. Harry was about to yell something encouraging when he was driven to the floor by a falling beam. He looked up in time to roll out from under another. He looked up further to see the red eyes and hooked claws of the werewolf burrowing through the ceiling.

Harry raised his wand but was blown to the side as the assault from outside stepped up.

"Draco little help!" Harry looked over but the blond boy was nowhere to be found. "No no no…"

Harry clutched his wand and prayed as Greyback fell in front of him.

"Harry!" Draco tried to yell but was cut off as a strong arm wrapped around his head. His wand was pried from his fingers as he was dragged backwards. He tried to struggle but he was lifted off the ground and carried. Draco kicked as hard as he could but his captor only grunted. He felt the heat of the burning wood grow further away.

He was dumped, wand less, onto the floor. He rolled and looked up at his kidnapper. His father.

"Father I-"

"Listen you fool." His father reached down and grabbed him by his hair. "You have made a mockery of everything I taught you. You are a disgrace to the Malfoy name."

"No…" Draco found himself trying to shake his head.

"Shut up!" The Slytherin felt his jaw clamp shut. His father continued. "You are a walking corpse while you are within the dark lords reach. And whatever else you have done you are still my son. My only heir."

"Father I-"

"You will go into hiding." Lucius continued hastily. "You will go where he cannot find you."

"No!" Malfoy found himself saying. Not as strongly as he'd have liked but still… "I won't go."

"This is not a game Draco!" His father cuffed him with the back of his hand, sprawling him on the floor. "You must continue the family line. Regain something out of the mess you have made of everything."

"I don't care!"

"Listen to me!" Lucius grabbed him by his ear and pulled him painfully to his feet. "I risk the dark lord's displeasure just by doing this much. You will obey me!"

"No! Let me go!" Malfoy punched out blindly and felt his fist hit flesh. He was dropped to the floor and tried to scramble away. There was a fallen death eater on the other side of the farmyard. His wand near his limp fingers. Malfoy dashed towards it.

"_Crucio!_"

Malfoy felt pain beyond imagining. Flames ran up and down every nerve. How had Harry survived this? Occlumency! Malfoy tried to blank his mind but the torment was already over.

"Maybe now you will listen to me!" His father yelled, the flames from the farmhouse painting his pale visage a demonic red. "Maybe now you will-"

"Drop the wand!"

Both Malfoy's turned to the new voice coming from the edge of the forest.

"Drop it now!"

Tonk's advanced on the death eater. Trying to shift his attention from the kid onto her.

"Drop the wand or I'll be forced to hurt you." She tried to remember the exact phrasing the auror handbook had taught her but her mind was a blank. "And step away from the child."

"This is my son young lady." The death eater said with a smirk. "I will discipline him how I see fit."

"Not with an unforgivable you won't." Without taking her eye's off him she dipped one hand into her pocket and pulled out her badge. "You are under arrest for-"

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

Her training kicked in on instinct and she threw herself to the side. Her response was in the air before she even hit the ground and it hammered her opponent back towards the farmhouse despite his raised shield.

Tonk's pushed herself up and ran between the death eater and the kid, who was still sprawled on the floor.

"Give up!" She yelled. "More aurors are coming!"

The death eater responded with a barrage of curses that she was forced to give ground to counter.

"_Reducto!_" Tonks blew up the ground near his feet and saw him stagger away, blinded. "_Stupefy!_"

"_Protego!_" He cast blind but it worked, making her duck to avoid her own spell. "_Crucio!_" This one went wide and she grinned, this was almost over.

"_Imperio!_"

It caught her by surprise. The spell taking her over, covering her. She tried to fight it off but it was useless. She could already see his wand coming back up. It was an old dark wizard trick, the next spell would be-

"_Avada K-_"

"_Expelliarmus!_" The spell hit the death eater from the side and threw him into the side of the farmhouse. Already weakened beyond repair the wall caved in, burying the death eater in rubble. With a hideous crash the rest of the house teetered, then fell sideways, almost like it was folding. As it crashed to the ground a huge cloud of dust was thrown up, covering everything.

Tonk's looked in the direction the spell had come from. The boy was standing there, the wand of the fallen death eater in hand. His face contorted in horror.

"Father…" He ran to the side of the rubble pile and began levitating huge chunks of brickwork off. "Father I didn't mean…" He stopped and stumbled back, tripping over a rock and falling to the ground.

From where she was Tonks could just see what he could. The death eater she had fought, with a piece of wood clear through his chest. Dead.

The boy was shaking, his hands clasped over his mouth. Tonk's was about to go to him when something shifted in the pile of rubble. A beam was pushed aside and a disheveled figure crawled out from under it, his fingers barely managing to find purchase as it clawed its way free.

"Harry!" The boy was up on his feet and running towards the figure. He managed to throw the rest of the rubble off the one called Harry and pulled him away from the wreckage. Tonk's watched as he leant him up against a rock. "Harry are you ok?"

"Fine." Harry croaked, his skin covered in black ash. "Just fine. Need water."

The boy conjured some and doused Harry with it, making him look almost human. Tonk's jumped as the water revealed a scar on his forehead. Could it be _that_ Harry?

"This is blood." The other boy was saying. "Did greyback get you did-"

"Nah," Harry waved a charred hand. "I'm an old hand at the werewolf fighting thing."

"Is he dead?"

"If he's not he's got the longest, most invisible, neck in the world." Harry grinned, his teeth were stained with blood.

"Are you sure you're ok? Harry look the aurors are here." The other boy said encouragingly. "We're safe. We're alright we can go back-"

"No!" Harry grabbed the other boy's arm. "What you need to do is make fakes of us!"

"What? I don't unders-"

"I need you to make fake corpses so it looks like we're dead!"

"W... Why?"

"Because I worked it out. Who it is." Harry was talking fast now, his eyes desperate. "Who killed Fleur. Who tried to kill Moody. Who put my name in the cup in the first place. It's so _simple_ it all comes down to the map. So simple I should have… Dumbledore should have… Anyone could have worked it out! Even worse if he's smart, and I know he is, I know what he'll try to do next."

"But why do I have to make fak-"

"Because right now he thinks he's safe." Harry grabbed the other boys shoulder. "And a man's life is at stake along with the rest. He thinks he's safe but if we survive he won't so he'll move him and we won't find him. That's why we have to die Draco. We have to die."

"I…" The boy Draco paused, the flames of the burning house still popping in the night. "I can't do it."

"Malfoy you ha-"

"I know what you're asking I just can't." Draco shook his head. "That kind of transfig if beyond me. I can't do it."

"I can." Tonks' voice caught in her throat. Why had she said that? The two boys turned to her. Harry's eyes wide as if only now really noticing she was there.

"Who the hell are you?" Harry tried to stand but collapsed back on the floor. "And why are you purple?"

"I'm Tonks. Auror Trainee Tonks. Hi!" She made a sort of wave. It was a strange introduction, amidst bodies and a burning house.

"You know her?" Harry turned to Malfoy, clearly confused.

"She tried to fight…" Malfoy swallowed and glanced towards the ruins. "She fought them."

"You trust her?"

"Well I think." Malfoy glanced at her squinting. "I think she's my cousin."

_What!_ Tonks' jaw dropped.

"Well well well." Harry grinned his bloody smile again. "I guess we need three bodies."


	34. Spirit of Njordr: 11

Harry Potter and the Spirit of Njordr Chapter 11: The end, The Beginning

"We found them near the ruins of a house nearby." Shacklebolt said tonelessly.

McGonagall felt something break inside her and she squeezed her eyes tight shut against the tears.

"There was one of my Trainees there too. Nymphadora Tonks."

"I remember her." Minerva murmured.

"It looked like she was caught by greyback." Kingsley shook his head. "Perhaps a blessing she died."

"Never say that!" Moody snapped. Shacklebolt flinched, then nodded,

"We found Potter in the wreckage and Malfoy a few yards away." Shacklebolt continued. "It looks like he got out of the wreckage but someone cursed him and…" He shook his head sadly.

Molly Weasley was sobbing, her husband trying to comfort her. The rest of the order was locked in silent grief, avoiding one another's gazes as eye grew red.

"They went down fighting though." Kingsleys deep voice, usually so calming, now sounded funereal. "Did better than us really. Found Cramore stunned in the forest, Kirrimson was dead nearby. We pulled what was left of Greyback and Malf… Lucius Malfoy from the wreckage. Two were stunned behind the house Gibbons and Goyle, one other dead and burnt beyond recognition. We're working on identifying him."

"Those kids leave three stunned and four dead." Moody took a long pull from his hip flask. "And we walk straight into a trap and get sent home with our tails between our legs."

"We're still alive." McGonagall was shocked to find those words slipping from her lips.

"Wish it were the other way round." Moody grimaced.

"What do we do now?" Dadelus said looking to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore said nothing. He was just sitting at his desk, staring into space.

"Dumbledore?"

Fawkes hopped off his perch and flapped down to land on the desk. The phoenix nuzzled up against Dumbledore's cheek, trilling softly. The old Headmaster slowly raised his head.

"We go on." Dumbledore's words were hollow in the silent room. "We go on."

"Specifically?" An acrid voice said from the doorway. Snape was standing there, looking more than a little haggard.

"Severus why are you here?" Dumbledore asked angrily.

"I am here because the dark lord ordered me to be." Snape strode forward. "Shall I remind you, lest the details have slipped your mind, that he believes I am his spy."

"I had not forgotten that." The headmaster said evenly.

"Good. Now specifically what are we going to do? Other than _'go on'_."

"A little respect Severus." Arthur Weasley said from the other side of the room. "Harry Potter is dead and-"

"I am aware of that." Snape cut in. "The tragedy of three young lives snuffed out is not lost on me. But what you all seem to have ignored is that they have given us a gift as they went. They struck the dark lords forces a heavy blow, their numbers and morale have suffered thanks to our champions and we should not let that sacrifice simply disappear. We need to use this time to marshal _our_ forces. We can bring the ministry to heel, two respected aurors saw the death eaters and five people are dead. Including the boy who lived. They cannot ignore that. We can either accept that Harry is gone and use his death as a catalyst to cement the ministry behind us or we can sit here and wallow in guilt."

Snape's mouth snapped shut and he stared down the headmaster who returned the gaze evenly.

"We cannot use Harry's death as a political bargaining chip." Albus said, a veiled threat in his words. "It is sick to even suggest it."

"Oh please," Snape scoffed. "It's is simply a means to an end. Harry himself would have been for it."

Probably true, Minerva admitted to herself. How did she feel about this plan? It chilled her to her very core to think about it. Making Harry a martyr was an insult to him. But if it ensured that the ministry was working with them instead of at cross purposes like in the last war…

"I will not allow Harry's sacrifice to be used this way."

"It is not yours to allow." Snape shook his head. "The prophet will get the story sooner or later. Do you think Fudge, beset as he is by scandals, will not try to use it to _his_ advantage? All we can do is do so first."

Dumbledore's mouth snapped shut. Minerva, and everyone else in the room, could see that he'd been backed into a corner.

"It is wrong." Dumbledore murmured softly. "We will regret doing this."

"Not as much as if we don't do it."

"I know." Albus was once again staring into space, seemingly lost in his own mind. "We go to the ministry. Molly, Arthur if you would take on the task of informing Harry's friends?"

"Of course Albus." Arthur nodded.

"Minerva, Kingsley, Alastor and Severus, we should depart for the ministry. The rest of you, go home. I am sure that we will meet again soon." As the order began to move the door burst open to reveal Bartemius Crouch.

"Is it true?" The unusually emotional man asked. "They are saying that Potter and the Malfoy boy are dead and that the dark lord has returned. Is it true?"

"It is." Dumbledore said simply.

"Then… what you have been saying all year…" Crouch bowed his head. "If only we had listened."

"It would have made little difference."

"But it would have made some." Crouch looked up. "Are you going to the ministry?"

"We are."

"Then so am I."

Harry felt like he was being passed through an intestine. The squeezing-pressing-rippling from every side hit every bruised and battered part of his body. Which right now was most of him. He dropped onto carpet and felt someone lift him up and lay him gingerly on a couch. Tonks' couch he assumed, mostly because it was pink.

"So that was apparation was it?" Harry coughed painfully. "It felt a bit like being born."

"Don't try to talk Harry." Tonks began running her wand up and down his arms. She grimaced as she saw damage under his skin. "You're too badly injured Harry. You need St Mungos."

"Just get me walking. We don't have time for more anyway." Harry twitched with major nervous energy, or minor brain damage. "We have to get going."

"Harry a building fell on you, don't be a complete idiot." Malfoy said, pushing a glass of water into Harry's charred hand. "Besides, you already died once today."

"We've got no time to waste." Harry shook his head. "They're probably already moving. We should- OW!"

"Sorry!" Tonks shrugged and grinned impishly. "Had to pop your shoulder back in. Get ready for the ribs…"

Harry bit down hard as his ribs snapped back into shape one by one. He felt his hand shaking and water splashing everywhere. He just lay back and tried not to scream as various parts of his body were patched up. He looked away, desperate for something to distract him. His eyes found Draco, hovering nearby. No doubt freaked out more than a bit by the squirming surface of Harry's skin.

"How are you holding out?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

"How am _I-_"

"I mean about your father." Harry closed his eyes as the skin on his right leg began to bubble. "How are you dealing?"

"I'm…" Malfoy sighed. "I'm trying not to think about it. I… I killed my own father."

"You had to." Harry winced. "He woulda killed you."

"No. He wouldn't." Malfoy sounded grim. Harry opened his eyes. His friend was crouched on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chin. "He was trying to save me from the dark lord. He was going to hide me. Even though he would have risked his place in the dark lord's circle, maybe even his life, to do it. He was trying to look after me."

"That's bollocks, he used an unforgivable on you." Tonks said from near Harry's feet. "Did you hear him? 'Family line' and all that. He wasn't trying to save you. He was just looking after the family name." Tonks broke off then popped up, looking contrite. "Sorry, didn't mean it like that."

"It's alright." Draco said quietly. He had drawn his knees up closer to his chest.

"Draco come on." Harry reached out with his newly repaired arm and tipped Malfoy's head back up. "This is a completely screwed up situation. You want to hide. Unfortunately I need to save the world again and I need your help. So you have thirty seconds to be emo in then we're back to business."

"You're a bastard Harry." Malfoy shook Harry's hand away.

"I'm not. I'm just in a hurry. Alright that's enough." Harry pushed off the couch and stood. His body… sort of worked. "We're going now."

"You're still not better you idiot." Tonks snapped at him. "You need to rest!"

"I'll rest when I'm dead."

"You _are_ dead." Malfoy pointed out acidly.

"Only temporarily" Harry drew out his stolen wand and grinned. "Now lets go break more ribs. Preferably not mine."

The news had apparently already spread to the wizarding public and the foyer of the ministry was packed with people. As the order appeared in a fireplace it set off a ripple of people that ended with a splash as someone tripped into the fountain. The sound was barely audible over the screaming riotous noise coming from the crowd.

Riotous… that was the word wasn't it. Snape thought as Dumbledore prestiged his way through the crowd. It was nearing a riot, when you pushed this many people together, gave them a reason to hate, to rage… this could become violent.

A glance at the other order members showed him that they realized it too. They had instinctively pulled together defensively. Moody's eye was virtually a blur, searching out threats.

Snape even saw that some of the crowd had conjured placards or simply burnt their complaints into the air. Cornelius Fudge's name figured prominently, and not in a flattering light.

The order reached the elevators, a ring of aurors looking nervous around them. It took Snape a moment to realize that they were actually having to hold a shield in place to keep the crowd back. Dumbledore stepped forward and gestured to be let through. The head auror, shook his head.

"Can't let anyone through." The grey haired man shouted over the noise of the crowd. "Orders of the Wizengamot."

"Of which I am head." Dumbledore seemed to have no difficulty making herself heard. "I do not think it was in the spirit of their orders to keep myself, two decorated aurors, a department head and two Hogwarts teachers from entering."

"I cannot allow anyone to enter."

"Oh… That's unfortunate." Dumbledore drew his wand and tapped the ward lightly. It dissolved. The order pushed forward ahead of the crush of people and got into the lift. Kingsley jammed the grating shut just before the push crashed against it. One of the aurors was thrust into the metal bars. Snape saw him mouth 'help me' as the lift slid up and away.

Snape tried to breath evenly. The urge to mash the button for level nine was surprisingly strong. Snape felt a little groan as the lift rose further away from the department of mysteries and up towards the offices of the minister.

"Do we actually have some sort of plan?" Snape said over the clanking machine.

"We will have to gauge the situation." Dumbledore said after an uncomfortable pause.

Oh how I wish I was on level nine.

"I think we can safely assume what that the situation is." Snape saw level four scrape past, office workers stared into the passing lift. The hope in their eyes as they saw the headmaster was palatable. "The Wizengamot will have heard that crowd out there and be looking to save their own skins. They will no doubt be politely throwing Fudge to the wolves. And why not? He's had it coming all year."

"Instability is hardly what we need right now." Minerva commented.

"And you think Fudge _is_ what we need?"

"Fudge has let Rome burn." Crouch said with dark anger. "We cannot allow him to remain in office."

"You are not in the order." Snape snapped at him.

"And you are not in the Wizengamot." He retorted.

"But I am." Dumbledore said quietly.

"So what do you purport we do?" Snape eyed the brass needle of the lift as it clicked towards one.

"If Fudge is prepared to admit what has happened we should try to avoid a the shock of a new minister." Dumbledore had his eyes closed, he looked tired. "If not… we shall see…"

The lift clicked up in silence. Dumbledore's lips were moving soundlessly, twitchingly.

"Would you be minister?" Shacklebolt voiced the silent question.

Click… click…

"… too many mistakes. All wrong…" Dumbledore muttered under his breath. He seemed to be swaying with the movement of the lift. His eyes were still tight shut. "I should never…" Dumbledore trailed off, leaning against the metal of the wall.

The others in the lift shared shocked glances. Crouch had his hands to his face in shock and Moody, for once, had both eyes fixed on one place. Their leader, apparently broken down. The lift jerked to a stop and a little bell dinged. No one moved.

Snape bent down in front of the headmaster, putting their faces level.

"We're here Albus." He said sharply. The old mans eyes flickered open.

"Harry's… dead?" Hermione shook her head. "No…"

"The aurors said it was quick." Mrs Weasley was sat across the table from them in an unused classroom. "He didn't suffer."

"Liar." Ginny hissed with surprising anger.

"Ginny! I know you're an-"

"Any way Harry would go down wouldn't be quick." Neville agreed.

"What really happened?" Padma pressed.

"He…" Molly Weasley looked down, her hands silently running up and down the edge of her robe. When she began speaking again it was softly. "He was buried under a farmhouse. He fought off seven of them and left them dead or stunned. He went down like a hero. His parents would have… would have been so…"

"Angry." Padma broke in, grinding her teeth. "Angry that Draco sold him out like that."

"Don't you dare say such things!" Mrs Weasley's head jerked up and she shouted. Hermione could see her eyes red with tears. "The Malfoy boy died too. It looked like they escaped together. Who knows how many of those seven were him!"

Hmm…. Hermione felt a light come on in her head. But if they didn't know…

"He crawled out of the wreckage. Probably looking for help!"

Maybe…

"And someone cursed him for it!"

Who? And why didn't they-

"I…" Padma stepped back. "I… I didn't know."

"We'll you shouldn't have judged." Molly took out a handkerchief and patted her eyes. "They took their bodies to St Mungo's. You can visit if you want. I know how-"

"Wait… Um Mrs Weasley." Hermione raised her hand un instinct before realizing that it looked stupid. "What do you mean looked like?"

"What?"

"You said it looked like they escaped together."

"Well no one saw them obviously. The aurors only got there later."

"Who killed them?" She pressed hurriedly.

"Miss Granger that macabre tal-"

"Please!" Hermione pleaded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Padma sit bolt upright. She'd got it too.

"We don't know." Molly Weasley was obviously very flustered. "They had obviously left by that time."

"Without taking their injured with them?"

"Well…" Mrs Weasley went silent as she searched for the answer. "Maybe they were scared off."

"Herm…" George said excitedly. "You're not thinking that Harry-"

"Well doesn't it sound just like him?" Hermione said with a broad grin.

"What are you lot talking about?" Ron asked, confused. Hermione ignored him

"Mrs Weasley, where is everything happening." On seeing the older woman's confused expression she elaborated. "Where is the… the focal point of all the stuff going on now."

"Well the ministry but-"

"Then that's where we need to be."

Dumbledore nodded and stepped slowly out of the lift. Took a deep breath and seemed to steady himself.

"Albus if you are not up to this-"

"I am fine Severus."

Snape let the old wizard go ahead. He was pushed aside a moment later as Crouch pushed past, a look of utter determination on his face. Snape and the other three remaining order members shared a worried glance.

"Well come on then." Minerva broke the silence and strode forward. Snape followed her out of the lift and into the long gallery, the long walk to the office of the minister of magic.

One side was open bay windows (not real ones of course) filling the rouge-carpeted hall with blazing sunlight. On the other side was a procession of life sized portraits, one for each past minister of magic. A walk through history from the very first minister of magic Janakarah the sorcerer to the latest in the wrinkled figure of minister Bagnold. Corpulent and useless most of them, the few with any skill had used it for there own benefit. When Fudge stepped down or died the corridor would be extended and one more painting would be hung.

Snape had never been here before. But anyone who actually paid attention in history of magic knew about the famous hall.

There was a sinister edge to the air and Snape had trouble placing it until they passed the 1500s and the portrait of Fenchurch the sickly. There was the sound of raised voices coming from the far end of the corridor, the end with the minister's office.

"Hyenas." Snape muttered. "Can hear them feasting."

"I thought they were wolves." Moody muttered from behind him.

"Of course," Snape sneered. "My changing metaphor is the most important thing happening here."

"Harry trusted you." Moody said quietly. Snape started and almost missed a step. That had come out of the blue.

"Your point?" Snape asked, to buy time.

"Why?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Answer the bloody question."

"His reasons were his own and it seems rather academic at this point." Snape spat back.

"I should'ave looked out for him better." Moody shook his head. "He saved my life."

"The past is meaningless." Snape held his head up and took a deep breath. "Regrets are natural, and only right given the circumstances. Allowing them to paralyze us however is not. That is the worst thing we could do."

"Who are you talking about?" Moody asked shrewdly. "You?… Me?… someone else here?…"

"All of us." Snape replied acidly, then sighed. "Wizards spend too much time living in the past."

"That doesn't sound like something you'd say." Moody grunted in surprise.

"It's not." Snape looked over at the grizzled auror. "It was something Harry said. And it's the answer to your next question."

"Which is?"

"Why did I trust him." Snape took another breath. He felt a lump climbing his throat and squashed it down. "We're here."

The order came to a stop before the heavy door. The small secretarial desk beside it was empty, the usual auror guards were gone too. With all the yelling it sounded like a quidditch match was being held on the other side of the door. One where both sides were loosing.

"We shall see what they're saying." Dumbledore waved one hand and the studded doors began to groan inwards. As the order came into view the yelling subsided into silence. Snape could see what looked like the entire c crowded around the mahogany desk in the center of the room. A beleaguered looking Fudge had frozen with his hands out in front of him. Caught in mid excuse. The Wizengamot made a path them as Dumbeldore walked slowly forward towards the ministers desk. The Headmaster cleared his throat. "Cornelius, you must know-"

"You are a disgrace!" All eyes turned to Crouch as he interrupted the old wizard, his mustache quivering as he shook with rage. "You are a disgrace Cornelius! How dare you sit up here while Voldemort rises?"

"But Barty I-"

"SILENCE!" Flecks of spit flew from Crouch's mouth. "The boy who lived is dead! The heir of a prominent wizard family is dead! One of our own aurors is dead! The champion of Beauxbattons is dead! Three innocent lives lost and you sit here desperately trying to preserve your own skin. How dare you!?"

"There was nothing I could do!"

"If you had listened to Dumbledore we could have stopped this." Crouch smashed his fist down onto the desk. "Instead you were embezzling!"

"I never-"

"Whoring!"

"Accusations-"

"And securing a cushy job for your cousin!"

"Rupert is qualified for-"

"SHUT UP!" Fudge flinched back from the onslaught of Barty Crouch. "I call an immediate meeting of the Wizengamot!"

"Why?" Fudge spluttered.

"I call a vote of no confidence." The room gasped at Crouch's words. "I call for the immediate removal of Minister Cornelius Fudge!"

"How much longer Harry?" Malfoy hissed down the dark stone steps of the cellar.

"I don't know Dracs why don't you keep interrupting so's I don't feel lonely." Harry's sarky voice filtered up from the darkness. Still with the distinct edge of weakness and pain. Draco looked over at Tonks who was guarding the door from the other side. She gave a harried shrug.

Malfoy tried to imagine what this was like for her, caught up in Harry's plan like a leaf on the wind. Not unlike him really. Harry tended to sweep people along. But you couldn't say no really, not when you saw what he himself was going through. Draco could see him down there now, propped up against a wall breaking down layer after layer of wards on the door beyond. The door that was banded with iron, smelt like a cesspool and that had made Tonks curse like a sailor when Harry lit it up with a _revealo_.

"Am I really your cousin?" Tonks whispered across the doorway.

"If your mother was Andromeda Black." Malfoy hissed back, still watching his side of the corridor.

"Yeah… wow." Tonks sounded distant. "I mean I knew you existed my mum told me."

"My mother didn't. I found an old version of the family tree that still had Andromeda on it." Malfoy was one of the few people who knew why the main family tree tapestry was so fancifully decorated. Every dragon, swan and oak tree covered the name of someone who had proved undesirable to the family. Andromeda Tonks was a vase of tulips. "I found out the rest from stories at school."

"Nothing good I hope."

"Oh please," Malfoy rolled his eyes. "From what I hear your mischief was pedestrian at best."

"What!"

"Me and Harry pranked each other worse over breakfast."

"Those weren't pranks." Harry called out from below. "That was guerilla warfare."

"What's a gorilla got to do with it?" Malfoy's brow furrowed and he heard both Harry and Tonks stifle chuckles. "Well I always thought you weren't human but…"

"Muggle thing." Tonks grinned. "Sorry little cousin!"

"Little c-!" Malfoy snarled and turned back to watching his corridor. The seconds ticked on as Harry mumbled and cursed from down in the cellar.

Suddenly Malfoy's wand jerked in his hand. He glanced over at Tonks and saw her looking down at hers too.

"The doors…" She whispered reaching into her pocket. She drew out a small mirror and snapped it open. Even Malfoy could see the dark hooded figures growing closer. "Death eaters. They're coming."

"Harry!" Malfoy turned and hissed down. "They're coming! We need to hide!"

"Can't stop." Harry's horse voice breathed back. "Too many threads. If I let it loose I'll never get it back."

"There's four of them!" Tonks hissed down, glancing down at the mirror. "We can't take-"

"You know where they're heading." Harry said quickly. "They're coming here. Go back to that big corridor with the armors. Set a trap like in the woods."

"Harry…"

"They won't be expecting us to be here. Any you can't catch just hit them when they're panicked."

"There are five of-"

"I can't leave!" Harry sounded panicked. "You're an auror and a champion. You two need to do this."

"He's right." Tonks was nodding, her hair turning a stealthy black. "Let's go cuz."

Malfoy glanced down the dark stairway as he followed the crouching girl. She was slipping professionally along the wall, her wand leading. Draco looked down at his own wand, it's tip was shaking. He looked down further and saw that his hand was drenched in sweat.

"Useless." He shook his head and gripped the wand tighter.

"Apposed to the removal of Cornelius Fudge, twenty."

Courtroom ten held its breath.

"In favor of the removal of Cornelius Fudge. Twenty nine." The dry court stenographer cleared his throat. "One abstained."

Snape felt his fingernails unclench from the chair.

"It's done."

"Is this good for us?" Kingsley asked softly. "It should be, but it feels like it was not."

"It depends on what happens next." Minerva was sitting ramrod straight. "Who steps in to fill his place."

"I wonder if it does." Snape murmured. "Something feels wrong."

"He's right." Moody growled under his breath. "Someone's toying with us."

"Who?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be sitting here." Moody was twitching, his eye whirling in its socket.

"I nominate Garcia Grechkoff!" A grey haired witch in the purple robes of the Wizengamot shouted. A few wizards nodded thoughtfully, others booed.

"Who is he?" Snape hissed.

"Department of Magical Yransportation." Moody rattled off. "Bought off by Nimbus."

"If he's open to bribes by companies he may be open to bribes by death eaters." Minerva shook her head.

"But we don't know." Snape cursed.

"His grandmother is a muggleborn." Shacklebolt rumbled. "Could keep him on our side."

"But we don't know."

"I nominate Deloris Umbridge!" A portly man yelled to general hissing.

"Close to Fudge. They won't chose her." Moody shook his head.

"And everyone knows that." Snape snapped, glaring at the man who had yelled. "So why suggest her?" He tried to catch the man's eyes but had no luck.

"I nominate Urstwise Innisting!"

"Champion of anti-werewolf legislation." Moody sneered.

"This is madness." Snape struck the arm of his chair.

"I nominate Barty Crouch!"

The room went silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers.

"It's set." Tonks hissed. "Get back."

Malfoy nodded and shot behind a pillar just as the heavy doors to the hall slammed open.

"Can't believe we 'ave to do this." A throaty grumbling voice said loudly. "Takin' out his trash."

"Let's just get on with it." Another voice grumbled as they came nearer.

Draco could see their wand lights growing brighter. As soon as they crossed the line… Draco gripped his wand tightly. The trap would get all of them, why wouldn't it? He tried to breath evenly, the footsteps drawing closer and closer…

Snap! A burst of light filled the corridor and Draco heard cries of pain.

"_Stupefy!_" Tonks voice cried out.

A flash of red pierced the blinding white. Draco jerked to life, he was supposed to be helping! He spun out from behind the pillar while going down on one knee. There was a vague dark shape in front of him, stumbling blindly forward.

"_Stupefy!_" The shape dropped.

"_Stupefy!_" Tonks yelled again. A thump told Draco that she had hit home.

Draco aimed blindly into the brightness and fired off a few more stunners. He kept firing even while the sunburst faded to a fizzle and finally popped into mist. The floor and walls were cracked and pitted with the spells and the walls right near the blast were still cracked and sizzling. The death eaters were sizzling too, the skin on their faces was cracked and blistered from the heat and one looked like his robes had actually caught fire. Probably the one that had tripped the trap.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief, it had worked. Tonks had insisted on using something nonfatal, against his wishes. He had even had to argue her up to this.

"Where's the fifth one?" Tonks' voice cut into his head. She was still crouched by her pillar, remaining covered.

"What?" Draco scanned the bodies again. One… two… three… four… Oh merlin! "Are you sure there were five?" Draco asked desperately.

"Definitely." Tonks stood and moved cautiously forward. "You sure there weren't any other paths down to the cellar."

"I think… yes." Draco swallowed. "Maybe the last one's watching the entrance?"

"Keep watch." Tonks ordered him as she snapped open her little mirror, then flicked it closed again. "No."

Draco glanced around, there was nowhere to hide at this point in the corridor other than the pillars they had used. That was why they had chosen it.

"You go back to Harry." Tonks waved him back. "I'll sniff him out. He's got to be between here and the main entrance."

"I'm coming with you." Draco tried not to cringe at the quiver in his voice. "I can help you."

"There might be another way around." Tonks said hurriedly. "You should go look after Harry."

"You're making excuses." Draco challenged. "Harry can take care of himself."

"You think I can't?"

"You think _I_ can't?" Draco challenged.

"Fine, we can both take care of ourselves." Tonks hissed angrily. "Except Harry who should be on life support right now. Let me spell this out, _kid_, Go Protect Harry! If he dies for real everything we've done is worthless!"

"I…" Draco bit back a nasty retort. She was right. "Fine you win. Have _fun_." He turned and stalked back past the stunned wizards. He realized he was being stupid but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of admitting it.

He stopped near the end of the corridor. He was being stupid, worse he was being arrogant. He was being a Malfoy. He turned and called out.

"Ton…" Malfoy felt his throat freeze up. "…? …!" He tried to move, his feet felt like they were bolted to the floor. In fact… his whole body was paralyzed! Malfoy tried desperately to move… speak… cast a spell… _anything_ that would attract attention.

The air in front of him rippled. A moment later a skein of nothingness was pulled aside and Malfoy saw the smirking face of Locusta Sanies. He put one blistered finger to his lips, glanced down the corridor at Tonks and grinned before sliding the nothingness back and disappearing.

No no no no no!

He watched as Tonks slid further away and his minds eye filled in the space in between with a stalking figure growing ever closer. He felt the wand still clutched in his hand, still giving out a wan light. Malfoy tried to scream a spell, if he could manage to do it wordlessly he could still warn her.

"_Stupefy!_" He yelled through gritted teeth and numbed lips. Nothing happened, he tried it again. Nothing.

Don't do it that way, Malfoy tried to calm down. You didn't do silent magic by forcing it through closed lips, you just _thought_ it.

_Stupefy._

Again.

_Stupefy!_

Malfoy was rocked on his immobile feet as a spray of red sparks spat weakly from the end of his wand.

"Kid?" Tonks voice carried from the other end of the hall. "You still there?"

_Stupefy!_

Another spray of sparks.

"I told you to go help Ha-" Malfoy saw her freeze as she took in his immobile state then whip her wand around and yell. "_Harenosus!_"

A tornado sprang out of her outstretched wand spraying sand out. For a moment it outlined a figure. Malfoy saw Tonks' eyes spring wide open.

"_Crucio!_"

Tonks sprang to the side as the spell whistled past her and threw something dark and red back. It missed and hit the wall. The pink haired auror glanced around sharply, the figure had disappeared into nothingness again.

"_Haren-_"

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Draco felt his heart hit his throat but Tonks hit the floor and the spell sailed over her head.

"_Augmenta!_" She yelled and gripped her wand with both hands as a powerful jet of water shot out and struck Locusta, outlining him in shining droplets and toppling him over onto the floor.

"_Stupefy!_" Tonks yelled at the prone figure and the force behind the spell was so great that it slid him across the floor and out of his cloak.

She summoned his wand and walked over to him, checked that he really was stunned, before grabbing the cloak off the floor and running over to Draco.

"_Finite!_"

Draco felt his body sag and staggered before his muscles caught up with him and brought him back upright.

"Thank you."

"Thanks for the warning." Tonks shrugged.

"Aw… you two have been bonding." A sarcasm drifted from behind Draco and he spun to see Harry leaning tiredly against the doorframe.

"Did you open it?" Tonks asked breathlessly.

"We got want we came here for." Harry grinned and pushed himself upright, wincing in pain. "Now lets get to the ministry. I feel a denouement coming."

"Children be reasonable." Arthur Weasley was saying. "We need to get you back to Hogwarts."

"He'll be here." Hermione said definitely, standing up on the edge of the fountain to get a better look around. "He has to be."

"I know you feel like he has to be alive." The Weasley Patriarch shook his head. "But denying it isn't going to-"

"Harry's died before dad." Ginny pointed out stretching up on tiptoes. "Twice."

"You were even there one of the times Mr Weasley." Neville said reasonably. "You both were."

"They found his body." Mrs Weasley grabbed Ginny and lifted her, kicking and struggling, off the fountain. "We are leaving now. We should never have come he-"

"The phone box!" Parvati yelled and pointed. Several other people in the crowd turned as the glass box descended and slid open revealing three figures inside.

"It's Dumbledore." Hermione breathed, not wanting to give away that a little spark of hope had just been extinguished.

"Hey didn't he already come through ere?" Someone in the crowd muttered as the old wizard walked calmly towards the lift.

"Oh hell no!" The bruised auror yelled on seeing Tonks disguised as Dumbledore. "We only just got the ward back after the last time you broke through!"

"And I can do so again." Tonks lied easily. "So you may as well let us through freely."

"No bloody way!"

"Please," Tonks smiled in a very Dumbledoreish way. "I do not wish to embarrass you in front of all these people."

"Bit late for that." The auror shook his head. "If you so much as raise your wand I'm arresting you!"

"And taking me into custody?"

"Yes!"

"And before the Wizengamot?"

"Yes!"

"Well in that case-"

"Don't get smart with me!" The auror shook his wand menacingly. "You're not getting past that easily!"

"Bugger." Harry thought, scratching his fake beard. "This guys not an idiot, and if it actually comes to it we don't have a chance of breaking through all of them."

Harry looked surreptitiously over his shoulder looking for another way through… hang on!

"Um do you feel that?" Fred asked suddenly.

"Feel wha… oh!" Hermione dug her wand out of her pocket and felt it vibrating in her hand. "The _mico_… Did one of you do that?"

The marauders shook their heads, a moment later the wands went still. Hermione licked her lips and quietly whispered,

"_Mico Harry_." For a moment nothing happened, then the wands started buzzing again. "He's here!"

"Where?" Ginny scrambled back on the fountain and looked around frantically. Hermione jumped up with her and a moment later all the marauders were perched on the lip of the water, scanning the crowd. "I don't see him."

"He must be one of the ones with Dumbledore." Padma hissed. "Too much of a coincidence otherwise."

"Right." Ron agreed. "Which one?"

"The short one." Fred said knowingly.

"Does it matter?" Hermione said in exasperation. "He needs help! Look, the aurors aren't letting them through."

"What does he thing we can do?" Neville scratched his head and added disbelievingly. "Does he want us to attack them?"

"No…" Padma said thoughtfully. "There's a better way…"

Hermione frowned, then suddenly it hit her.

"You mean-"

"Obviously." Padma turned to the other marauders. "Disperse into the crowd and follow my lead."

Hemione herself dropped down off the lip of the fountain and hurried past the shocked Weasley parents before pushing her way into the crowd saying 'Excuse me!' to everyone she bumped out of her way. Once she thought she was far enough away she stopped and waited for the signal. It didn't take long.

"Let him through you idiots!" Padma's voice cut clear across the crowd. "If Voldemort really is back then Dumbledore's our only chance!"

"She's right!" Hermione yelled. "Let Dumbledore through!"

"Let him through!" Someone else yelled from across the room, sounded like one of the twins.

"Let him through!" Another marauder took up the chant.

"Let him through!" Had that been a marauder?

"Le him through!" That definitely wasn't.

Hermoine yelled her lungs out as the whole crowd took up the chant. The aurors were pushed back, looking more and more harassed. The chant grew in strength as people began to clap, then stamp.

"Let him through!" Hermione heard an old wizened lady near her chanting. Knocking her gnarled walking stick on the tiled floor.

From where she was she could see the head auror hold up his hands and yell something. A moment later a cheer went up as the shimmering curtain of the ward was pulled aside. Dumbledore and his two companions stepped through and entered the lift.

Hermione could have sworn one of them winked at her as the bars slid closed.

"You have some very smart friends Harry."

"I know." Harry grinned as Tonks canceled the illusion. "And in a few minutes we'll need to be just as smart. Or smarter."

"And are we?"

"Course we are." Harry grinned. "We're marauders."

"We're what?" Tonks asked.

"Marauders." Harry clapped her on the back. "It means we're unstoppable."

"Invincible bastards." Malfoy commented dryly.

"Exactly!" Harry nodded as the grating slid open. "Invincible cutthroat bastards! Now lets get to work."

"The votes are in." The dry court clerk said in a shaky voice. "The overwhelming majority have voted for Bartemius Crouch. So it is my proud duty to proclaim him the new minister for magi-"

The heavy courtroom door burst open with an explosion of light.

"I object!" A voice called out from the middle of the halo of brilliance.

"Who do you think you are!" Crouch sprung to his feet. "This is a meeting of the Wizengamot! Only those invited by members may-"

"Shut up!" The voice called.

"Who are you?" Someone called out.

Beside Snape Alastor Moody was staring open mouthed at the door. A moment later he threw his head back and laughed.

"Moody?" Snaoe questioned. "Who is that?"

"Who do you think?" The old auror croaked out. "That kid's brilliant I'll give him that."

"That… kid?…" Snape turned back to the door, looking directly into the light. Slowly it faded and the courtroom was left with the tableau behind it. Three robed figures stood, one far taller than the others with his hood up, the others with theirs thrown back. The figure to the left was a young woman with strange pink hair, he remembered her a former student. Nymphadora Tonks. And the figure in the front, unmistakable, hands on hips, his hair thrown back to reveal the scar. His robes tattered and stained and his skin just this side of deathly, Harry potter stared down the Wizengamot with arrogance only he could conjure.

"Hi," The boy grinned cheekily. "Am I late?"

"You!" An irate Fudge screamed from the corner. "You're dead!"

"Rumors, exaggerated, you know the drill." Harry stepped into the courtroom, cracking his neck as he went.

"Trainee Tonks!" Shacklebolt had stood and crossed his arms angrily.

"Sorry sir." Nymphadora shrugged. "I was only following orders."

"Whose?"

"Mine." Harry answered for her and spread his arms extravagantly. "I'm the boy-who-lived. I outrank you."

"Harry…" Crouch said from the podium, seemingly recovered. "This is clearly wonderful news. Seeing you alive brings tears t-"

"Crocodile tears no doubt." Harry turned on the older man like lightning. "Should have known you were a reptile. Do it Tonks."

"Bartemius Crouch." The pink haired girl stepped forward. "I am arresting you for the murder of Fleur Delacour."

"What!" The Wizengamot exploded. All except Crouch, who went very still.

"These accusations are boundless." The new minister said flatly. "Obviously this is not Harry but an imposter taking his pl-"

"Interesting that you should mention imposters." Harry interrupted. "Let me tell you all a little secret, everyone here. Dumbledore… yes that guy there, that Dumbledore… Has a magic map. Yes everyone, a special _infallible_ map One that shows the names of everyone in Hogwarts, and where they are, all the time."

The courtroom had gone silent, every eye was on Harry.

"The Headmaster assured me that it could not be tricked, and I believed him. But here's the nasty bit, you all know that Alastor Moody was attacked a few weeks ago? Yes… good. I knew the perpetrator couldn't have left the grounds that fast, but Dumbledore assured me that no one was on the map. But he was, he was right there, in front of the hospital wing. There's no magical way to trick the map, but that doesn't mean there's not way to trick it. One person could impersonate another if they had the same name. Like Barty Crouch and… Barty Crouch… Jr."

The room gasped, but Snape's mind was already moving. They had to make sure Crouch couldn't leave. They had to catch him. He shifted in his chair but felt a heavy arm grab his shoulder.

"Stay where you are." Moody growled. "Potter's got it under control."

"He can just apparate out!" Snape hissed hurriedly.

"No he can't." Moody grinned. "Damn that boy's good."

"These accusations are insane!" Crouch was yelling.

"They're brilliant." Harry shook his head. "Got to give old snake face his props, it's pretty devious. I'd bet anything that you're the source of all the rumors that have been attacking Fudge all year. De-stabling his position enough that you can swoop in and knock him off his perch. Of course you'd need something to prompt the changeover. Something dramatic, like the return of Voldemort. He was going to use his own rebirth as a catalyst to put his puppet on the throne. That was why he waited to reveal himself. He was waiting for the opportune moment."

"You have no proof!"

"I do." Harry raised his fingers and clicked. The third figure raised his shaking hands and pushed his hood back. Anyone who hadn't already clicked on to what had happened gasped.

The gaunt and scarred face of Bartemius Crouch stared back, his left eye twitching in anger.

"We couldn't give him a wand." Harry said in flat rage. "His mind's not all there anymore. Probably all the torture."

"This is another imposter." Crouch said haltingly. "My son is in azcab-"

"Give it up." Harry barked a harsh laugh. "You knew you were rumbled the moment I got here. Even if you convince them I'm a fake you'll have to kill this bloke-" Harry jabbed his thumb at the skeletal crouch. "- then you'll have no polyjuice. Then you'll be screwed. But it'll never come to that, because there are at least four people in this room who already believe me. And none of them are going to let you leave." Harry drew his wand, holding it lightly in his hand.

Snape drew his as well and saw Minerva reach for hers too. Moody stayed still, a small grin on his face.

"Potter… Harry." The Crouch on the podium licked his lips. "You are a very bright boy Harry. But you are dead."

"Faking."

"You will be dead." The voice of Barty Crouch went ice cold. "You all will be. The dark lord has said he will destroy you, and so he will. I only pray he lets he watch."

"I see the mask has fallen." Harry seemed unperturbed by this development. "So lets try the next trick." Harry raised his wandless hand.

"No more tricks!" Crouch flicked out his wand and spun…

Harry clicked his fingers…

"_Stupefy!_"

The burst of red light caught Crouch from behind and slammed him into the lectern. He slid to the floor and fell like a rag doll, splayed against the ground.

"Nice shot." Harry complemented the empty air.

"Well," Malfoy appeared out of nothing, throwing back an invisibility cloak. "I had a good distraction."

"Harry you promised!" Tonks grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of the antechamber. "I'm taking you to St Mungos!"

"I said I'd go when all my jobs were done." Harry shook her off and turned back towards Dumbledore. "I'm not finished."

"What's left then? Someone else to unmask?" The trainee auror put her hands on her hips. "Better do it quick, you're running out of time."

"I do my best work with internal bleeding." Harry shrugged looked around. Moody and Shacklebolt had left, trying to keep parts of the ministry from totally collapsing after the loss of two ministers in a row. McGonnagall and Snape were still there, standing behind the Headmaster and Malfoy was standing by Harry's side. "I need one last answer."

"Harry Miss Tonks is right." Dumbledore smiled. "You need medical help soon or-"

"Why did he come after me?" Harry cut in, silencing the headmaster. "Why me now. Why me fourteen years ago. Why me?"

Dumbledore stayed silent, his fingers twitching and his eyes suddenly bereft of their usual sparkle.

"He said I was the 'seal for his immortality'." Harry pressed. "What does that mean?"

"Harry you are sick right now." Dumbledore held up a hand. "Trust me that I will tell you the truth in good time."

"No!" Harry barked a laugh. "Trust you to tell me? That's likely! Tell me now you old lying bastard."

"Mr Potter!" McGonagall stepped forward angrily but her sleeve was caught by Snape.

"Albus," The potions master licked his lips. "Perhaps you should simply tell him."

"Severus!" The Headmaster snapped angrily.

"Do you know?" Harry tuned to the Slytherin, ignoring the way his vision blurred when he moved. "Will you tell me?"

"Say nothing Severus!"

"He deserves to know."

"I am still the head of the order."

"Did the _order_ just save you all from a death eater becoming minister of magic?" Harry yelled angrily. "No! That was _ME!_ You just sat there like an idiot!"

"You will not speak to me this way."

"I'll speak any way I damn well like you igno-"

"There was a prophecy." Snape said softly. Strange how soft words can sometimes drown out yelling.

"A what?" Harry felt his mouth go dry.

"Severus don't." The Headmaster shook his head. "You don't know what you're do-"

"It said something specific about you Harry." Snape continued, ignoring Dumbledore. "The half I heard said, _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies._"

The small room grew deathly silent. Harry felt his brain trying to work over what he had just heard. It was failing.

"It doesn't have to be true." Harry heard Malfoy say through a fog of twisting thoughts. "Not every prophecy comes true."

"It doesn't even have to be Harry." McGonagall said, shaking her head. "Mr Longbottom also fits those criteria."

Harry shook his head, Neville? Could it be…

"I… it is not Mr Longbottom." Dumbledore said haltingly. "The other half of the prophecy confirms it."

Other half… Harry put his hand to his head. Everything was so fuzzy.

"What other half?" Draco demanded.

"I do not think-"

"Do you really want to have this argument again?" Draco shook his head angrily. "Just tell us."

"It concluded with, _And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives._" Dumbledore was speaking quietly now, almost defeatedly. "The first half of the prophecy unmistakably refers to Harry."

"And… and the other half?" Tonks gulped. "It means…"

Dumbledore just shook his head and looked to the floor.

"It means it is inevitable." Snape whispered in shocked breathlessness. "Harry is the only one that can defeat him. It is inevitable. They have to fight, and one of them has to die."

No… Harry felt his hands shaking as the words fell like slabs of granite in the silent room.

"But… but he's only a child." McGonagall shook her head, a little glisten of a tear in the corner of her eye. "We can't let it happen."

Harry tried to speak but the words caught in his throat.

"He doesn't have to do anything!" Draco slashed the air with his hand. "Not all prophecies come true!"

Harry raised his hand to his mouth… why couldn't he speak.

"Not all of them begin." Dumbledore said, with painful hesitance. "But once they do they almost always run their course."

"_Almost_ always!" Draco yelled. "You want him to face the dark lord on an _almost!_"

Should ask Pythea. The little seer floated into Harry's mind but dissolved in the fog. His head hurt. His ear was wet. What was this…

"If there is a chance he can kill him." Snape said, his head down like he was ashamed. "If it is our best chance…"

Blood…

"You as well!" Draco turned on his head of house, who looked away.

"You can't use him like that." Tonks stepped up beside her cousin.

_Draco…_ Harry tried to croak, but the world was spinning. He reached out a shaky hand towards the boys back. He fell short, there were too many hands and too many backs.

"Harry?" Dumbledore noticed his reaching and stepped forward.

"I… I…" Harry swayed, his legs too weak. He wet his lips and tried again. "Thirsty…"

The faces before him disappeared downwards and he felt the floor hit him everywhere before he blacked out.

Harry was dimly aware of the hospital room. The healers standing around saying things he wouldn't have understood at the best of times. Snape was there for a while, then gone, then there, then gone, fading in and out. Draco was definitely there, a white bandage on his arm, ignoring it, standing by Harry's bedside. Was Dumbledore there? He could hear his voice, see his eyes from behind silver light. The light was falling, hitting his eyes.

Where was he?

He was… home.

Privet drive?

Hogwarts?

Godrics… Hollow…

He was standing outside the cottage. He was right there, it was all there. But he had never been here, at least since he was too young to remember.

He had to get out. He wasn't supposed to be here. It felt wrong. It was under his skin. Falling off like snowflakes, showing the shadows underneath. Had to get away!

Harry ran away from it, as fast as he could. The shadows were chasing him, wanting to get into him, in his head. He ran until he could hide behind a tree. The apples had grown now. Hundreds. Green. Right over his head.

He could hide here.

It was much better here.

Everything but this was shadow.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." Natalie Zhao pushed the door fully open and let him in. She pushed it shut behind him and stood there, arms folded, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm not dead." Was the first thing that came to Snape.

"I gathered that." The unspeakable didn't move. "Don't you have an explanation?"

"An explanation?"

"For your message. Your patronus." Her even voice edged to anger. "You somehow sent a message by patronus. Which I've never seen. You said you loved me. Which you've never said. Then you said you could die. Which I know you would not exaggerate. You said you were about to do something dangerous. Then the ministry explodes, people are saying Voldemort has returned. Saying that Harry Potter is dead. Fudge is removed. Crouch is elected. Crouch is removed, _by_ Harry Potter. Crouch is _arrested_. The ministry is in turmoil, they only got the crowds to go home an hour ago. They only sent the unspeakables home because our department can't do anything at this point. No one knows what's going on. The Wizard Wireless just keeps playing the same recordings of what happened in courtroom ten. _Everything_ is broken down. So pick something Severus. _Anything_. Give me an explanation for _anything_ that's happened over the past day or I swear I'll hex you into oblivion."

Snape answered the only way he could. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Natalie, resting his head on her shoulder. He pulled her as tight as he could, reminding himself for a moment that at least one part of the world wasn't broken. Breathing her in, being where he'd wanted to be since the beginning of this sorry mess. At least this battle was over.

"This isn't an explanation." Her voice came from somewhere near his breastbone, muffled by his robes. But her arms were around him, gripping him at least as hard as he was her.

"I know. Just a moment more." Snape pulled himself together and stepped back, releasing her and looking down into her perfect eyes. "Here, this should tell you what you need."

He let his mind drift, letting every mental defense fall. The intrusion was soft, light and swift. The memories she needed were right on the surface.

"Oh my god." She put her hand to her mouth. "It's all… true?"

"All of it." Snape nodded.

"The prophecy… even that?"

"Yes."

"That poor boy." She shook her head. "How can he do this? Does he even have a chance?"

"He must have at least a chance." Snape sighed. "The prophecy says he has the power to defeat the dark lord. If there was no chance at all it could not say that. However small it is, he has a chance."

"What can we do?" She had gone from disbelief to iron conviction in a moment. "How can we save him?"

"I need to…" Snape licked his lips. This was harder than anything else. "I cannot see you anymore."

Natalie bit her lip and looked at him calculatingly.

"It's for some stupid noble reason isn't it?"

"I know what I have to do. How I can best help the order… and help Harry." Snape closed his eyes, it was easier if he didn't look at her. "I have to be a spy again."

"In the death eaters." It wasn't a question.

"While I am there I cannot reveal any indication that I am anything other than _just like them._" Snape explained. "I cannot ever slip. Even the slightest hint… I couldn't do it… I am not a good enough actor to hide you. Hide the change you've made in me. I have to end it. I'm so sorry Natalie."

"You can't afford any distractions."

"Yes."

"And I'm a distraction."

"Yes."

"Love is a distraction."

"_Yes._" Snape breathed, his closed lids the only thing keeping back tears. He felt breath on his face, she was moving closer. A moment later he felt her wet-silk lips on his.

"No…" He murmured, but she had captured him. Her hands behind his head, her lips on his. Intoxicating, making everything he had said fly out of his mind.

He had to stop.

He couldn't.

He lost himself in the kiss, breathing in every moment of it. He couldn't stop, his brain was full of her. If his eyes had been open even the weakest wizard would have been able to read his every thought. He was open… euphoric… free…

As she pulled back he opened his eyes. He had thought the spell would be broken then, that the feeling would go away. But it wasn't going, it only felt stronger.

"Firstly…" Natalie held a finger up to his wet lips. "Stop being noble, it doesn't suit you. Secondly… Who do I talk to about joining this order?"

"Why can't we see him?" Parvarti moaned.

"Because he's in a closed ward." Mr Weasley said calmingly. "You couldn't see him even if we went to St Mungos."

"We can be there for him." Neville said quietly.

"You wouldn't be able to speak to him or even be in the same room."

"He'd know we were there."

"No he wouldn't. He's unconscious." Mr Weasley shook his head. "You kids need to go back to Hogwarts. You've already been out of school for too long."

"_School!_" Fred threw his hands up. "Who cares about school! Harry's in hospital and You-know-who is back!"

"All the more reason for you to be back at Hogwarts." Mrs Weasley pushed the marauders towards one of the fireplaces. "It's the safest place."

Ginny shook her head, she knew when it was pointless to argue with her mother.

"Play the little sister card." She heard someone whisper in her ear. She looked back in time to see Padma wink at her. "One of us should be there, and it'll be easier to leave the burrow."

Ginny grinned, then put on her best scared-six-year-old face.

"Mummy, I'm scared." Her mother turned to her. "Do I have to go back to Hogwarts?"

"Your father told you. You can't see-"

"No, that's not what I meant." Ginny shook her head. "Can I come hone tonight?" Her mother's face softened instantly.

"Of course dear. I'll clear it with the teachers." Ginny found herself enveloped in a hug. "There's no need to be scared."

"I know." Ginny felt a little bad for manipulating her mother. And very good for not getting caught.

"I'm also scared-" Ron began, before Fred elbowed him in the kidneys.

It was near midnight before Ginny could sneak down to the front room of the burrow. She slid out of the front door and broke into a run as soon as she was out of the garden. It took her only a few minutes to jog to the Lovegoods' house. She stepped in (the door was never locked) and went straight to the fireplace. Mr Lovegood slept right at the top of their odd house and she could probably lie her way out of trouble even if she was caught.

"St Mungos." She said clearly as she tossed the powder and stepped into the fire. After a rocking and spinning few moments she fell out into the waiting room.

At this time of day it should have been empty. It wasn't, ten or so reporters were dotted around the room dictating into quick quotes quills or jotting notes down the old fashioned way. Ginny went straight to the stairs (the desk staff would no doubt question a child alone in the middle of the night) and ran up a few flights before stopping by a portrait of a helpful looking old man.

"Excuse me," The old man perked up at the sound of her voice. "Do you know where the closed wards are?"

"Are you a reporter?" The old man asked suspiciously.

"Do I look like a reporter?"

"Hmm, you're right a little young maybe." The old man nodded. "You want the fourth floor. End of the hallway."

"Thank you." Ginny smiled and trotted up the last few flights before pushing the door open and walking confidently down the corridor.

Confidence was the key. I have to look like I'm meant to be here…

Or I could steal that nurses robe off the back of that chair.

Ginny scuttled over and quickly threw it over her shoulders. She pulled her hair down to hide her face and picked up a nearby clipboard with a piece of parchment stuck to it.

'Confidence and a clipboard is a universal disguise', Ginny chucked at the memory. Good advice Harry.

She lowered her head and pretended to be checking her notes as a healer walked past then quickly pushed open the door at the end of the hall and stepped in.

It was unlit, the patients were meant to be sleeping, but there was a little streetlight filtering in through the windows. Ginny moved from bed to bed quietly, they all seemed to be empty. They must have emptied the ward for Harry.

As she stepped closer to the second to last bed in the row she was that it was occupied. Harry… He looked pale and wan, and he twitched in his sleep. He looked awful. It was the light from the window, that was it. It was yellow and harsh, making him look sicker than he was. That had to be it.

Ginny stepped closer, trying to see what specifically was hurting him.

"Don't move."

The voice came out of nowhere and Ginny jumped back in surprise. A moment later she saw the shape lying on the next bed over. She had been so focused on Harry she hadn't noticed. The shape sat up and she saw white blonde hair framing it's face.

"Malfoy." She was caught between anger and relief.

"W… Weasley?" The Slytherin moved into the light and Ginny could see that he had a bandaged arm. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question." Ginny tried to summon some confidence. And clutched her clipboard.

"Well this is a hospital." Malfoy sneered. "And I'm injured. Why do you think I'm here? Your turn."

"I'm here to see Harry." She lifted her chin. "_I'm_ his friend."

"So you are.." Malfoy slid his feet to the floor and stepped over to stand on the other side of Harry's bed. "Get behind the curtain. They can see you from the corridor."

Ginny quickly stepped towards the wall, away from prying eyes. She wouldn't thank him though. Not Malfoy.

"Is he gonna be ok?"

"He'll recover. They said there won't be any lasting physical effects." Malfoy snorted quietly. "Whatever _that_ means. He'll have a few more scars to add to his collection."

"So he'll be fine?" Ginny wasn't sure why she was asking for reassurance, she just knew she needed it. "The healers can-"

"Fix almost everything." Malfoy's eyes drifted down to a small bandage on Harry's wrist.

"What is it?"

"See for yourself."

Ginny reached down and gingerly pulled the bandage down. Underneath was a gruesome tattoo, a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

"What is this?" Ginny ran her finger over the mark. It wasn't even raised, it just felt like skin. A hand engulfed hers and lifted her fingers off.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you." Malfoy released her and pulled the bandage back up. "It's the dark mark. The dark lords mark. All his servants have it."

"But Harry's not his servant!"

"Keep your voice down." Malfoy hissed angrily. "Do you want to get caught? Idiot."

"Tell me what it means." Ginny whispered softly. "Please."

"The dark lord marked him because Harry wouldn't give in." Malfoy shook his head. "Harry was tortured. For a long time, longer than anyone should have lasted. He just laughed. He was insane."

"That's Harry." Ginny let her hand fall into Harry's.

"He just kept fighting. He was… he didn't…" Malfoy bit his lip and looked away. "Eventually the dark lord just snapped, marked him. Maybe it was just the only way he could think of to actually cause Harry real pain."

"But you got out?" Ginny asked. "You both escaped?"

"Barely. We got into the passages in the walls." Malfoy added, his voice low and pained. "Managed to get out through a tunnel. We had to fight them in this… stupid muggle farmhouse. Harry fought them off. All of them, even Greyback. House fell down… he crawled out of the rubble."

"Wow…"

"He kept going. Kept us going. Forced us, till he started bleeding from his ears." Malfoy shook his head sadly. "Is it always this hard?"

"What?"

"Being his friend."

"Oh…" Ginny chuckled wryly. "Sometimes…"

"Must be even harder being him."

They stood there in silence for a while, Harry twitching uncomfortably. Ginny leant down, idly wondering whether he could hear them.

"You'd better hope he can't." Malfoy answered out of the blue. "If he can hear he can feel, which means he's still in pain."

"How did you…?"

"You're predictable."

Ginny didn't have the time to retort as the doors to the ward burst open. She quickly grabbed her clipboard and turned to hide her face. Footsteps approached the bed.

"Nurse," The soft voice of Dumbledore spoke from behind her. "We need to get him to Hogwarts. Is he well enough to be moved?"

"I… um…"

"The healer said he shouldn't move until tomorrow." Malfoy came to her rescue. "Said it could tear his wounds open again."

"Really…" The Headmaster didn't seem convinced. "Would you turn around please Miss Weasley."

Erg… well marauder rules. If you're caught, no apologies. Attack back.

"Hello Professor." Ginny turned. "Do you want to explain why I could just walk into the ward where Harry was kept? I could'a been a death eater."

"You think I left him unguarded?" Dumbledore chuckled and nodded towards a nearby bed. A moment later a cushion unfurled and arched it's back, yawning widely. The cat hopped off the bed and unfolded into Professor McGonagall.

"Satisfied Miss Weasley?" The animagus arched an eyebrow.

"Did you know she was there?" Ginny muttered to Malfoy.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"This way was more funny."

"Too right it was." The voice was low and croaky, but unmistakably Harry. The two students and two teachers crowded round as Harry slowly opened his eyes. "Hi."

"Hi yourself." Ginny smiled. "Welcome back."

"Didn't go anywhere." Harry muttered. "I was unconscious."

"I am glad you are awake Mr Potter." Dumbledore said with false jollity. "But we must move you to Hogwarts."

"Something's happened." Harry stated flatly.

"We will talk about it once you are safely in Hogwarts."

"No. We won't." Harry folded his arms. "We'll talk about it now."

"Harry-"

"No more secrets."

"No more secrets…" Dumbledore repeated quietly. Maybe it was her imagination, but Ginny thought she could hear a catch in his voice. "Very well then. Voldemort has made a move, we need to take you somewhere safer in case he tries to strike at you."

"Made his move?" Harry frowned. "What's he done?"

"He had attacked Azkaban." Dumbledore glanced back at the door of the ward . "He led the attack himself. The guards of the island simply let him pass. I think it is fair to assume they work for him now as well."

"Azkaban is unguarded!" Malfoy's eyes were wide and shocked. "But what about the other prisoners? They could also esca-"

"There are no other prisoners Mr Malfoy, and indeed no Azkaban." The Headmaster spoke in clipped tones. "Perhaps I was not clear. Azkaban is no more. It was blasted away, down to the bedrock. Voldemort took his followers and any of the hundreds of other petty criminals that would willingly join him off the island and left the rest to take their chances in the sea."

"How many?" Professor McGonnagal asked in hushed tones.

"We think at least twenty or thirty wizards joined him, not counting the ones that were already death eaters." Dumbledore announced this as if it was the weekly Quidditch scores. "As for the others... They are still dredging bodies out of the north sea but it is safe to assume quite a few reached land safely, they were magical after all."

"What about Crouch?" Harry said suddenly. "Tell me he wasn't transferred there yet."

"I'm sorry Harry." Dumbledore bowed his head. "The aurors office didn't think there was any point delaying."

"So he's free?"

"He is."

"It was all for nothing." A little choked laugh came from Harry's throat. "It was all for nothing."

"Harry…"

"Worthless…" Harry was staring at the ceiling. "For nothing."

"We stopped him becoming minister." Malfoy said sadly. "That's something I guess."

"He killed Fleur." Harry closed his eyes. "He tried to kill Moody. And now he's free. Should have killed him."

"Harry!" McGonagall stepped forward angrily. "We cannot sink to their level. We are not murderers!"

"Maybe _you're_ not. _I_ killed at least four people yesterday." Harry painfully slid his legs off the bed. "Maybe more… I forget. Does Greyback count as a person? Never mind, come on then, lets go."

"I can levitate you-" Dumbledore began but then trailed off into silence as Harry stepped onto the cold hospital floor. Harry held out both arms wordlessly, Malfoy stepped under his left instantly. Ginny dropped her clipboard on the bed and took his right.

"I know you can levitate me. You're Dumbledore after all." Harry smiled and stepped forward, leaning heavily on his friends.

There was a memorial service for Fleur the next day in front of the forest at Hogwarts before she was brought back to her parents in France. Harry didn't say anything, he couldn't trust himself to. Her killer was still out there because of the stupidity of the Ministry.

He'd get him. One day, he'd get him. Harry dug his fingernails hard into his palm.

"I'll get him for you." Harry whispered, glancing up at Fleurs coffin. "I promise. I'll kill him."

Harry watched as the Triwzard cup was brought out and placed next to the poor girl. She was the Triwizard champion, he and Malfoy had insisted on that. It was official and everything. Small comfort for her parents.

"You alright Harry?" Neville asked him quietly.

"No Neville." Harry shook his head. "I'm not alright, but this is basically a funeral. I'm not meant to be right now. If I was alright I'd wonder what was wrong with me."

"It wasn't your fault." Harry didn't answer. The 'fault' conversation was too predictable, and unhelpful.

The ceremony ended and the students began filtering back to the castle. Harry didn't join them, he couldn't face them all. The whispers had already begun. Everyone knew Voldemort was back, most even knew that Azkaban was gone. They also knew that Harry had died, come back from the dead and invaded the ministry to unmask a death eater. Harry sighed, everyone thought he was some sort of hero. If they turned out to be right it would take a weight off his mind.

Harry reached the edge of the lake and looked out over it's glassy surface. It still felt threatening and malignant, his fear pulling at him like vertigo. He ignored it, it was easier now, he had more pressing concerns.

"You sure you're ok?" Harry looked back, Neville had followed him. "You don't seem ok. I mean I don't-"

"What did your parents do Neville?" Harry said out of the blue.

"I… they…"

"You never told us."

"They… they were aurors."

"Ah… " Harry nodded. "Probably fought death eaters… Voldemort… lots of times."

"Yeah, I guess." Neville shuffled his feet, staring at the floor. "Nan told me they were pretty good so probably."

"And they're dead?"

"They're… well… they're in St... yes. Yes they're dead." Neville swallowed. "A death eater called Bellatrix did it."

"That's what I thought." Harry nodded, still looking out over the lake. "I wonder if you'd have done better… "

"Harry you're scaring me a little. What's all this about?"

"There was prophecy Neville." Harry watched the sun as it slowly set so as to avoid looking at his friend's face. "Long story short it predicted the birth of the only person who could destroy Voldemort. It could have been either me or you, turned out to be me." Harry lapsed into silence. Behind him he could hear Neville breathing in gasping gulps.

"You did hear me say it's not you?" Harry clarified. "You don't have to fight him."

"But you do!"

"Apparently." Harry tried to shrug, tried to look uncaring. Unfortunately it was so counter to how he was really feeling it was hard.

"Do you know when?"

"Nope."

"Do you know how?"

"Nope."

"Well…" Neville scratched his head. "What do you know?"

"I know I'm gonna lose." Harry said dryly. At Neville's shocked expression he threw his hands up. "Well what do you expect! Look at me, I'm a teenage wizard, a fourth year! He's the most dangerous wizard alive and I'm barely making acceptable in defense against the dark arts."

"Harry you know grades don't matter." Neville shrugged. "If they did then how come you've survived this long?"

"I know that! But this is different!" Harry shook his head. "Up till now I've got through by a combination of luck, lying, wit, brutality and stubbornness. Not to mention that I've always had help. But this is different, it'll just be me, him and two wands. I can't beat him like that, don't even stand a chance."

"You don't know it'll be like that." Neville said reasonably.

"I know it will. Don't you see? This is where the whole thing's been headed. I'm going to lose and I can't. I can't let myself lose." Harry realized something and laughed wryly. "She was right… of course she was right."

"Who was? About what?"

"I won't be able to visit her this summer." Harry's hand twitched to the cord around his neck. "I'll be busy. I'll be very busy."

Draco hitched his legs up onto the windowsill and rearranged his robed behind him to be a bit more comfortable. When it got later he'd try to reach his room in the Slytherin dungeon. Right now his apparent defection made it impossible to get past his former friends without a violent response.

He shifted his shoulders and turned the page on the course book he was reading. For now he could ignore everything, just be a little nub of calm on the windowsill, reading in peace. But eventually he'd have to face his housemates, then in a few days he'd have to go home and face… nothing.

His hand moved to his pocket where the letter from his mother was. It hadn't been angry, no expressions of undying hate. It had simply stated that she was moving back into the house she grew up in and that she would prefer if she never saw him again.

Draco had considered burning it, or tearing it up and laughing. That was what Harry would do. Draco just wanted to curl up in a corner and pretend it didn't exist.

"Wotcher, kid!"

What the…? Malfoy looked down the corridor and saw Tonks standing just a little way off with her hands on her hips.

"Oh," Malfoy turned back to his book. "What do you want?"

"Hello to you too." Tonks shrugged and shoved his legs off the windowsill roughly so she could sit down.

"Hey! I was sitting there."

"You were moping there." Tonks corrected. "Anyway I was talking to my mum earlier."

"Was she angry at you for dying?" Draco asked.

"A little." Tonks said sarcastically. "She also said she had heard that her sister was moving back to her old home."

Draco didn't say anything.

"Is that why you're sitting out here?"

Silence.

"Or is it that you helped arrest-slash-kill several of the fathers of your old friends?"

"What do _you_ think?" Malfoy answered acidly.

"I think I should show you a little something I found in my sixth year called the '_room of requirements'_." Tonks stood and winked at him cheekily. "So you won't have to sleep on a windowsill."

"The room of requirements? Is that a bedroom?"

"It _can_ be a bedroom." Tonks answered mysteriously. "By the way, did I ever thank you for saving my life?"

"It's fine. You probably saved me too."

"Yeah, probably… " Tonks nodded grinning. "Anyway my mum says that you should come over to dinner so we can thank you properly."

"It's fine-"

"She always makes too much anyway." Tonks went on. "You can come over a few times if you want. Every night even, over the summer."

"You don't…" Draco felt his throat go a little dry. "You don't have to do this for… for…"

"For what? For family?" Tonks laid a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, I do."


	35. Changeling Child: 1

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 1: Homecoming

"Hello?" The shopkeeper peered, bleary eyed, at the figure standing on the other side of the glass door. "Sorry we're closed now."

"Good." The hooded man pushed the door open roughly. "Then there will be no one to hear us."

"What do you want." The shopkeeper edged his hand towards the wand in his pocket. "If it's money you're after-"

"I require a service of you." The man said, clearly and arrogantly. "Or rather my master does."

"If your master wants any of my service." The shopkeeper grunted a laugh. "He'd better come himself. I don't do house calls and even if I did some of my equipment's too heavy to move."

"You mistake me." The man sounded like he was smiling. "My master want's you to give me something. A _Shén de shǒu._"

"A _Sh-_" The shopkeeper held his hands up, backing away. "No no no no! Why would I-"

"I heard you were the man to go to for one."

"Yeah, years ago. When they were legal." The shopkeeper took his wand from his pocket and held it firmly towards the intruder. "I think you'd better leave."

"My master…" The man began, rolling up his sleeve. "Is not a man you want to displease."

The shopkeeper jumped back as he saw the dark mark emerge from under the dark robes. Even this far from Britain everyone in the business knew what it meant.

"Are you a… a dead eater?"

"Death eater." The man corrected pleasantly. "Now about the _Shen?_"

"I… I'll have to make some calls." The shopkeeper shuddered, he just wanted this man gone. "I don't have all the stuff here."

"I'll wait." The man pulled up an old wooden chair. "While we wait we can discuss some other things you may be able to help me with. I'm sure they will not be beyond your… skill."

The shopkeeper gulped as the man began listing what he wanted. His hands shook so much his wand fell on the floor and rolled away unnoticed.

"I'll…" He cleared his throat, his mouth raw. "I'll see what I can do."

Harry's boots hit fireplace and he drew his wand out and scanned the room before lowering it and depositing the required galleons in a jar by the barman.

"Thank you young master." The man simpered.

"He's probably telling someone I was there right now." Harry thought as he left the grubby pub. "And that someone will tell a death eater."

Harry broke into a run as old buildings flashed past him. He hadn't made for London, too obvious. The bold silhouette of Edinburgh castle was outlined against the stars for a moment between two buildings as Harry dashed along and he darted down an alley towards it. He slowed as he passed a group of guys obviously out for the night, singing in the street, then sped up as the path began to climb towards the high castle.

He came up a side road and turned away from the historic building. Fitting himself into the crowds of Friday night revelers like a shadow. He flitted across the royal mile as fast as he thought safe, clutching his long coat tight about him. At fifteen years old people wouldn't think it weird for him to be out this late but they might remember that he was alone. Any memory of his passing was a liability and Harry flicked his collar up and kept into the shadow of a house.

There were a few wizard pubs in Edinburgh, Harry had mapped them out. But thanks to his stupidity of not disguising himself as he flued into the last one he could not now risk any of them. Harry cursed, he was still an idiot. Still making stupid mistakes, Harry shook his head and pinched himself hard. He had to be better.

The rail station appeared beneath him and Harry swiftly crossed the bridge and slinked in a side entrance. He bought a ticket from an automated machine (no memories) to the first location on the departures board. Then tore it up, cursing himself again, and bought one for the _second_ one down.

It was only three minutes till it left. Harry stood in a corner, hopefully just looking like any other traveler. They wouldn't check the station would they? They thought like wizards, not like muggles. Maybe he was being paranoid… the bartender didn't have to tell anyone…

No! Careless! Better safe. We want to fight them, but on our terms.

Harry nodded, it was the safe thing to do. He gritted his teeth as the seconds ticked by. He just needed to be gone. Wherever the train went he could find wizards and flue to… to somewhere. Somewhere better, Hogwarts possibly? It was still weeks till he had to go back to school and Harry wasn't eager to slip back under Dumbledore's restrictive wing. He'd go somewhere anyway.

Damn it! Harry went stock still as two oddly dressed individuals walked into the train station. One looked like his outfit was a Halloween costume of a pirate, the other was wearing lederhosen. They were the stupidest sight Harry had ever seen.

They were also here to kill him.

Harry could feel the essence of barely contained violence coming off both of them and the pirate had a wand concealed up his sleeve. Harry stepped sideways, making his movement seem inconsequential, uninteresting, and pushed open a staff door. He stepped in calmly and confidently, not giving any trace that he didn't belong.

"'Ere? Who are y-"

The cleaner in overalls got no further as Harry whipped his wand out and Confunded him.

"You're done for the night." Harry whispered and jerked a thumb back the way he'd come. "You need to lock that door."

"R… right." The man mumbled and Harry left swiftly, passing out a side door and feeling the cold night air. Harry crossed the road and passed to the next street over and breathed a sigh of relief. It was busy, full of revelers. He could be invisible here.

The good kind of invisible, the kind that didn't need cloaks.

Harry kept to the side as he ducked down the long stretch and ducked into a pub. A few minutes later he emerged, unrecognizable. Wrinkled skin and grey hair, Shakey Jack walked again. Harry walked like an old man up the road, watching both ways.

Damn it! There was one, walking down the street towards him. He was surreptitiously pointing his wand at every person he passed, like he was dowsing. He was detecting magic. Harry winced, there was his friend coming from the other direction, doing the same. Harry was cornered.

Harry began walking slowly towards the pirate death eater, making his steps slow and measured like the old man he was supposed to be. He hid his wand in his sleeve, he needed to come up with a plan. There was no way he could fight them here, too many bystanders, so that left taking them out instantly (which would be almost impossible) and running away.

Of course if one of them had been Crouch it would be different. But they weren't, they were just incidental.

"_Silencio._" Harry murmured it so quietly he could almost have been silenced himself, aiming at the death eater's wand. No way to know whether he had hit… The wand came up, aimed at Harry…

Nothing.

The wand passed on over to the next bystander and Harry breathed a mental sigh of relief. He began walking away, they didn't follow. He kept walking, passing out of areas he could recognize from maps and found an alley.

Harry pushed a wheelie bin aside and slouched down against the wall. He'd wait for morning here and try to leave the city then. Harry drew into his bag and pulled out the wrapped up remains of a sandwich.

Full circle, eventually we all come back home.

Harry sneered as his eyelids began to droop, alleys used be home, now they weren't. That didn't mean that anywhere else in particular was home, but it was an improvement. Harry dropped off to sleep, too tired to dream.

"He's here somewhere."

Harry's eyes flicked open, the wan light of daybreak filtering into the alleyway. Footsteps came slowly up the alleyway. Harry slid behind the bin that hid him and crawled to the other side. The two figures came cl… Hang on!

"Are you certain?" A deep familiar voice said as the two men passed the bin Harry was behind. "It might not even be him."

"Underage magic and marauding death eaters, it's him." Moody grumbled as he stumped along. "He's back."

Harry waited until they had passed then grinned. He stepped out from behind the bin and slowly walked up behind the two aurors. You know what would be funny? Harry took a deep breath…

"_Envenerate!_"

Harry lifted his head off the grass (grass?) and looked around him. Moody was gone, but the tall black auror was still there, his arms crossed, calmly looking down at Harry. Harry glanced at the person who had brought him back.

"Hey Tonks."

"Wotcher Harry." Tonks held out an arm to help him up. "Want to explain why my bosses brought you here comatose?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"Well Moody was too angry to talk and Kingsley kept laughing."

On cue a deep chuckle escaped from the tall aurors mouth, swiftly covered with a hand.

"I'll let Moody tell the story when he calms down." Harry dusted himself off and surveyed the empty field. It seemed vaguely familiar. "Where are we?"

"Oh! Right." Tonks dipped into her pocket and drew out a small piece of paper. "Just read it, don't say it out loud."

Harry took the paper and unfolded it. On it was written, in loopy, hard to read handwriting…

_The headquarters of the order of the phoenix is the manor on the grim moors._

"So what does it- WHOA!" Harry tripped backwards as the mansion exploded out of the ground around him. Even the grass curled into the floor and became gravel and a fountain appeared like it had been pushed up from some tunnel underground. After everything settled Harry looked around,

"Hey, isn't this-"

"Home." Came a voice out of the air. "My home." Harry spun, wand out. Then relaxed.

"Knew I recognized this place." Harry smiled. "Good to see you Draco."

"Good to see you too." The blond boy detached himself from the shadow of a doorway. "Good too see you're still alive since we didn't have a clue."

"I owled."

"Once. From _cairo_." Draco said sarcastically. "Then you drop totally off the map."

"I was vacationing." Harry shrugged. "Like I always do."

"Yeah right." Draco pushed the door open for Harry to step inside. "Well in the mean time your friends and fan club have invaded my home."

"The order of the phoenix?" Harry looked around the cavernous entrance hall. "Never heard of them."

"It is Dumbledore's organization." Kingsley said from behind Harry. "To counter the death eaters."

"Why are you here? Don't you have your own headquarters?"

"This is better apparently." Draco rolled his eyes.

"Didn't Voldemort live here?"

"The wards respond to the current heir." Draco looked over at the sprawling tapestry of the Malfoy family tree. "Voldemort was forced to leave the moment…"

"The moment ownership transferred?"

"Yes. That."

"Well at least we're all safe here. Constant vigilance." At Harry's words Shacklebolt clapped a hand to his mouth but couldn't stop a snigger. Harry grinned and took another look at the tapestry. "Aren't you supposed to be on here?"

"I'm there." Draco pointed at a ragged burnt spot at the bottom. "It seems my mother reverted to her own family traditions."

"Why don't you fix it?"

"Because I don't feel like it Potter." Draco snapped acidly. "Besides? Who would I fix it for? I'm the last Malfoy."

"Unless you have children." Harry pointed out. Draco just shook his head.

"No… no I'm the last Malfoy." Draco seemed to nod to himself, his voice full of some cold resolve. "Anyway, as I was saying. With the family enchantments and the extra wards Dumbledore put up this place is totally impregnable."

"No such thing." Harry looked back at the aurors. "Or as Moody would say, constant vigilance."

"Stop saying that." Kingsley had to cover his mouth again.

"What is this?" Tonks looked between them, confused. "It'd have to be something good to make _you_ laugh."

"He snuck up behind Alastor Moody and yelled '_Constant Vigilance_' in his ear." At Tonks' shocked expression he added. "I'm not joking."

"Harry you're _insane!_" Tonks doubled over, holding her stomach. "He could have killed you!"

"You're certifiable Potter you really are." Draco shook his head, then stopped suddenly. "How did you sneak up on Moody?"

"Yes." Kingsley stepped closer. "I've been wondering that."

In answer Harry just smiled and rolled up his left sleeve. Around his wrist was a brass bracer engraved with tracing vines. Right in the center, on the inside arm, was a hieroglyphic of a great black eye.

"Picked this up in Egypt." Harry said, running a linger along the edge.

"That's the evil eye." Tonks stepped closer to look at it. "It wards off magical monitoring."

"Yep."

"It's also all sorts of illegal."

"Yep." Harry shrugged. "Somehow I doubt the ministry would care considering what's being kept at bay _under_ the eye."

"Under… oh…" Tonks nodded faintly and stepped back. "Right."

"Does it stop him calling you?" Draco asked quietly.

"It makes it manageable." Harry pulled his sleeve down and put on a cheery smile. "Too bad it only hides me, not my magic. Else I could do spells whenever I wanted without the ministry seeing."

"And you'd be even more of a menace." Tonks smiled and winked at Harry. "Come on, the others are waiting."

Harry grinned and turned to follow the auror.

"We're mostly living in the east wing." Tonks called back over her shoulder. "This place is massive. It took us a week to find where you'd left Macnair. He smelled awful."

"Sorry," Harry shrugged theatrically. "Next time I'll try to kill in a sterile environment."

They walked down a long dark hallway, made more spooky by the fact that every picture was empty. Draco said nothing but Harry imagined they had left about the same time his father had. The door at the end had a steady glow coming from under it. Harry hurried forward and flung the door open theatrically.

"I'm back!"

"Harry!" Harry was knocked back as marauders piled towards him, and on him. Harry laughed and extricated himself from under the pile.

"Hi guys." Harry walked past the scrum into the cavernous room, which turned out to be a kitchen. "Miss me?"

"Where the hell were you?" Padma hadn't joined the charge and was sitting with her arms crossed and an angry expression. "Why did you leave?"

"I never left." Harry held his hand to his heart. "I was always with you, in here."

"Bullshit."

"Cynic." Harry shrugged and slid onto the long bench across from her and Hermione. "Have you no-"

"Voldemort is back." Hermione interrupted him.

"_Really?_" Harry opened his eyes wide in shock. "Is he _really?_ No… no, I had no idea… How could that happen? I would remember a thing like _that?_ Oh… oh wait? Tall guy with red eyes? You know I think I _do_ remember a guy like that… _TORTURING ME!_"

"Alright Harry. Alright." Hermione held her hands up. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that Voldemort's after you, he want's to kill you."

"Is this a meeting of the obvious society?" Harry said as the rest of the marauders crowded around.

"What she means is that this isn't a time to go sunbathing in Majorca." Padma said in exasperation. "Or skiing or hang-gliding or whatever it is you did."

"Well I didn't bloody hang-glide." Harry grimaced. "At least brooms have some means of propulsion. And I didn't ski or sunbathe. I've been working."

"Working on what?"

"Working on not getting tortured again, working on being… better."

"You've been training?" Fred asked. "You found some Tibetan temple or something?"

"No, no temple." Harry shrugged. "But I have been training. I'm not ending up half dead again. Next time he comes after me I'll not be helpless."

"Well the point is that it shouldn't happen again." Tonks came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulders. "You're staying safe here till you can go to Hogwarts."

"Safe here?" Harry froze. "Safe here?" He pushed himself off the bench. "I have to go out there!"

"Wh… what?"

"I have to go out there and fight them. You know that right?" Harry looked Tonks in the eye, the marauders looked on confused. "_You_ know that."

Tonks glanced back at Draco, who just frowned and looked at the floor.

"Dumbledore…" Tonks licked her lips. "Dumbledore, who also knows _that_, says you're to be kept safe."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. However long it takes."

"You are aware that without me it will take precisely forever." Harry said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sure Dumbledore has considered that."

"Dumbledore. Is. Senile." Harry looked over at Kingsley, who had thus far kept silent. "How bout you? You got a take on this?"

"I trust Dumbledore." Kingsley said confidently.

"Everyone always does." Harry snorted. "And as yet I've seen no reason why."

"You haven't seen him angry." Kingsley turned towards the door. "Come on Tonks, we need to get back on duty before we're missed."

Harry didn't speak as the two aurors left. When the door slammed shut he threw his hands up and shook his head.

"I have seen him angry. I've seen him angry at me, it's not so bad."

"What was that Harry?" Ginny asked.

"What?"

"All that '_you_ know that' and 'he knows _this_' stuff. What's the secret?"

"You didn't tell them?" Harry turned to Neville.

"I thought it was a secret." Neville shrugged.

Harry turned to Draco, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't look at me I don't even like them."

"Right," Harry turned towards the door. "It's not a secret, at least not amongst us. Could you tell them for me Nev? I'm going to get some fresh air."

"You can't." Ron called after him. "We have to stay inside the building."

"Wh…"

"The wards extend to the property line but it's stronger in here." Hermione explained apologetically. "They told us to stay-"

"By _they_ you mean Dumbledore."

"Yes."

"Then I'm finding an open window." Harry looked over his shoulder back at the marauders. "I can do that can't I?"

"Your room's down the corridor, the door with the scorpion lock." Draco said.

"Is there a window in my cell?"

"Yes, it's not barred either. Not un-metaphorically anyway."

Harry, didn't respond. He just pushed the door open and left.

Draco woke the next morning as a retching sound came through the wall. He shook the covers off and pushed the curtains around his bed open before hurrying to the adjacent room.

"Harry is that you?" Draco was about to try the door before he thought better of it and ran a detection charm. A couple of nasty curses lifted out of the woodwork. Draco backed a few steps away. "Harry open up!" Draco heard footsteps then the door scraped open.

"What?" Harry growled sleepily.

"Were you just sick?"

"No… no." Harry shook his head. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I just heard you Harry." Draco folded his arms. "You also smell of vomit."

"I… I do." Harry sniffed. "Fine. You caught me."

"You're sick?"

"I'm pregnant." Harry shrugged. "There was this dancer. I was a little drunk and, well… I was weak."

"Right," Draco snorted.

"You're the first one I've told."

"I'm touched."

"It'll be really tough raising it on my own."

"I imagine labor won't be a picnic either." Draco shook his head, if Harry didn't want to tell him then he didn't want to know. "Look, it smells like breakfast's ready."

"Great," Harry shrugged, then frowned. "Who's cooking?"

"Sit down Harry." Molly Weasley pulled out a chair for him. "Have some eggs. There's toast too, and some sausages."

Harry looked around in confusion at the various people that had appeared in the kitchen of Malfoy manor. There were more Weasley's than there had been, the two parents and older brothers. An odd man in a green hat was there as well, smiling at Harry and waving, along with an older lady in an ratty robe. There was one very recognizable face though, one that went had gone from smiling to stone cold the moment he entered the room. Remus Lupin had stood the moment he came in and walked away, leaving by the back door.

"A couple of people live here now." Ginny said to cover the silence. "A couple of the order members."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't started charging rent yet." Malfoy muttered darkly, leaning over a chessboard.

"It's because we're too visible." Molly Weasley explained. "People know we support Dumbledore, they know we were in the order last time. We're targets for attack. It's safer here."

"Right, safer." Harry tucked into his breakfast in silence, the marauders chatting around him. Apart from him only Malfoy and Ron were silent, both intently staring at the chessboard. Occasionally, _very_ occasionally, one of them would make a move.

"It would be nice if they'd find their own base though." Malfoy murmured, still staring at the board. "Or their own prison."

"Prison?" Harry dropped a piece of toast. "They're using this place as a prison?"

"Obviously." Malfoy said grimly. "Did you think Malfoy manor had no cells? And they can't use Azkaban anymore."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"The whole manor is under the Fidelius charm." Hermione explained. Harry smiled in understanding, so that was what the little slip of paper had been about. "It means that a secret is-"

"I know what it is." Harry interrupted her calmly. "But isn't it dangerous to tell the prisoners the secret?"

"Yes. That's why they don't." Padma shrugged.

"The prisoners are inside the secret but they haven't been told it?" Harry's brow furrowed. "I wonder what that feels like for them."

"They tend to scream a lot."

Harry shrugged, unworried. At least there was a safe place for to house the death eaters. Of course Harry would prefer if they were all kept in nice safe _coffins_ but this was the next best thing. While they had been talking Draco had turned back to the silent chess game.

"How long have they been at that?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Hours for this game." Hermione answered dejectedly. "Weeks if you're mean playing in general."

"Who's winning?"

"I think Ron's ahead by two games."

"Well that's-"

"Out of two hundred and twenty six." Padma chimed in irritably. "Neither of them's been up by more than four at any point. Next time they equalize I'm stealing the bloody board."

"I have over eight hundred chess boards in this house." Malfoy said idly as he nudged a pawn forward. "You're welcome to try and find all of them. Maybe you'll get lost along the way."

"But not today. Got you." Ron said triumphantly as he slid his knight forward. Harry frowned, even he, with his loose undemanding of the game, could see that it wasn't a checkmate. But apparently Malfoy could see something he couldn't, the blond boy hunched over the board for a few moments then,

"Screw you Weasley." Draco angrily slapped his king down and stood up. "It doesn't count. I was distracted, I was talking to Harry."

"It counts." Ron replied angrily. He began to reset the pieces but Draco grabbed a pawn out of his hand and slammed it back into it's box.

"I don't want another game. I'm bored of chess for today." Draco sat back down at the breakfast table, pouting.

Harry grinned at the spectacle then pushed his empty plate away and stood to leave.

"Where are you going dear?" Molly Weasley called after him.

"Just back to my room." Harry answered cheerily. "I didn't unpack last night."

"There's no chance he's going to unpack." Padma whispered across the marauders table.

Ginny shook her head. No one could tell when Harry was lying, not even the marauders. But since Harry hadn't unpacked anything ever since he'd got that bottomless bag it was unlikely he was doing so now.

"Should one of us go check on him?" Neville suggested.

"Let him be." Fred shrugged. "He's got a lot to think about." His twin nodded.

"It'd give us something to do." Parvarti murmured quietly, voicing what they all felt. Boredom was constant here. The only interesting times were order meetings when the marauders would try to find ways to listen in. Ways that were continually blocked.

All their homework had been done. All the course books had been read and so many games of exploding snap had been played that they all had little tiny burns on the ends of their fingers. There was nothing else to do, literally nothing. They had looked, tried to come up with other things to do. They had failed.

"We could try gobstones again." Fred suggested as their mother bustled around the room.

"Definitely not." Hermione shook her head. "We could study?"

"We've done all our homework." Ron said irritably.

"We could swap and do each others." Parvati pointed out. At the general shock she just shrugged. "I'm that bored."

"We could play quidditch!" Ron perked up instantly. "Why didn't we think of this before! Yeah! We can have a-"

"How?" Ginny cut in. "We can't go outside."

"Well… oh."

The marauders lapsed into silence. Defeated again.

"Mrs Weasley." Malfoy suddenly said. "Harry was feeling ill earlier. Do you have anything that could help him?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" The Weasley Matriarch hurried off down the corridor towards Harry's room. As soon as she disappeared Malfoy pushed himself away from the table.

"Let's go. Quickly."

"Why?" Ginny crossed her arms. "Why should we go with you?"

"Because I know where we can play quidditch." Draco glanced at the door. "Believe it or not I am as bored as you are Weasley. Now can we go? You're mother won't be distracted for long."

"Whoa!" Ginny gasped as they were led into a massive hall. On the floor there were plinths and cases holding strange sparkling items.

"What is this place?" Hemione asked.

"My fathers." Draco lugged the ball case over. "It's just junk." True to his word he shoved three vases off a display stand to put the case in their place. "Now... teams."

"I call captain!" Ginny yelled.

"Me too." Ron nodded.

"Right," Malfoy was still looking the other way. "Captains are Ginerva and myself."

"But-"

"It's my house." Malfoy cut him off snidely. "I'll take the twins."

"Which ones?"

"The quidditch playing ones." Malfoy rolled his eyes. Fred and George reluctantly went over to stand by Malfoy.

"You can't pick both." Ginny argued.

"Would you split them up?" Malfoy said sarcastically. "Have a heart."

"Fine. You can have them." Ginny grinned. "I get everyone else."

"Well well Weasley." Malfoy said appraisingly. "Betting on quantity over quality?"

"Shut up and release the bludgers."

Ginny shot past a cabinet laughing, the crash from behind her told her George hadn't been so lucky. The quaffle flew up and bounced inside the chalk circle on the wall.

"Goal!" Ginny spun on the spot, pumping her fist in the air.

"You're still behind Weasley!" Malfoy yelled as he shot past.

Damn it he was right, Ginny shot forward after him. If only the snitch would appear! It shouldn't be so hard to catch it in this enclosed area. Unfortunately the charms on the snitch were never designed to deal with an irregular maze of cabinets and as a result it kept moving erratically. They had found and lost it three times already. Ginny saw Malfoy trying to score and being blocked by Ron. She took the opportunity to take another look for it.

"Over there!" Someone yelled, Ginny didn't hesitate. The flash of gold disappeared behind a urn and Ginny spun around it. Where was it? Another flash, there by the rack of swords. Ginny heard a crash from the side her, Malfoy was closing in. There, by the glass again? No! By the urns again! Damn it, there were reflections everywhere. It was like there were six snitches!

Ginny narrowly avoided colliding with the wall. A thump behind her told her Malfoy wasn't so lucky. There it was! Right near the corner of the room. Ginny sped up, it was so close! Her fingers closed around it. And it felt... wrong.

Ginny drew to a halt, holding the thing in her hand. It was gold, but it wasn't a snitch. It was a cup, a little gold plated teacup, still struggling to escape from her fingers. Draco hovered in next to her, looking perplexed.

"That didn't used to fly." He grabbed it out her hand, holding it by it's tiny handle and letting it try to pull away. "This isn't even stored in this room."

"What is it?"

"It's a teacup Weasley how dense are you?" Draco insulted idily, still staring at the tiny thing. "Or did you always just drink out of a trough at your house?"

"No." Ginny just gritted her teeth and swallowed the insult. They had to live in this house for weeks yet. "Where did it come from?"

The other marauders came in closer, staring at it.

"I saw it by the door." Parvati said curiously. "I thought it was hovering there but maybe it came through."

"We should look." Malfoy began floating in that direction.

"What about the real snitch?" Fred asked, wrestling a bludger back into its case.

"It's just a training snitch. It comes when it's called." Malfoy held out his hand. "_Ollyollyoxen!_" In a flash of gold the snitch darted down from the ceiling and settled in his hand.

"Lets go." He said curtly, jerked his head and floated off towards the door.

"Guess we're not walking." Hermione murmured as the marauders flew after him. The corridor was fairly narrow and the marauders had to fly in single file. The empty portraits were here as well, even the animals in the landscapes had left.

"Do you hear that?" Neville whispered and clumsily stopped.

"What Longbottom?" Malfoy turned in the air, impatience clear on his face. "I don't hear anything."

"That would be because you're talking." Padma snapped at him. "Shut up a minute."

Silence filled the hallway for a moment, then... a distant noise. It sounded like an explosion underwater, muffled by the walls. The marauders looked at each other, they had all heard it.

"There it is again." Ron said quietly as the sound echoed down the hall.

"Sounds..." Malfoy screwed up his face. "It's beneath us."

"Are you sure?" Ginny floated forwards to where he was hovering. "It's echoing a lot, maybe-"

"My house Weasley." Malfoy cut her off. "It's coming from beneath us. This way." Malfoy shot forward and turned sharply into a side corridor. Ginny rushed to keep up with him and she could hear the marauders behind her doing the same. A door was flung open in front of them and Ginny spun into it, following the blond flash in front of her. Down some steps, along a long dark hall, next - STOP!

Ginny had to break harshly to avoid hitting Malfoy who was hopping off his broom in front of a large wooden door.

"You! You...!"

"What's the matter Weasley?" Malfoy shouldered his broom. "Had trouble keeping up?"

"I almost hit you!" Ginny dropped to the floor. "Why did you stop?"

"We're here." As Malfoy said it a loud bang issued from the other side of the door. Ginny looked behind her to see the marauders just coming around the corner. Hermione looked terrified, Neville looked ill.

"Well lets see then." Malfoy drew his wand and pushed at the heavy door. It slowly crept open. Inside was an empty hall, looked like it was usually used for storage or something. The only things left were a few odd tables and a few boxes. In the middle of the room stood Harry, bare chested with his scars pure white against his tanned and sweating skin. On a box next to him was a odd pile of junk. As they watched he took a plate and held his wand to it. At a whispered word there were two plates, then three, then four. Harry dropped the original back into the pile and tapped the fakes with his wand. They instantly flew off in all directions. Harry jabbed his wand and in a fraction of a second-

BANG! One shattered near the ceiling. Harry whirled. BANG! Shattering into shards. BANG! Smashing the side and sending the last plate spinning into the wall.

Harry caught sight of the marauders and grinned before waving them over.

"Thanks." Harry said, plucking the cup out of Malfoy's hand. "Must have missed that one." He released it and it instantly whizzed into the air.

"You don't need to keep duplicating things you know." Malfoy said dryly. "I've got tons of this junk."

"Right." Harry shrugged. "Just didn't want to bother you."

"Harry _what are you doing with these?_" Hermione asked, sounding almost scared.

Ginny looked where Hermione was pointing and swallowed fearfully. Arranged in a neat row along the table was a sharp and wickedly curved sword, a short spear with a lighting bolt carved into the haft, a round ball that had holes for fingers and seemed to be glowing from within and no less than three muggle firearms.

"Souvenirs." Harry shrugged lightly. "From my travels."

"Harry please tell us what you're doing down here?" Hermione pleaded.

"Training." Harry flicked his wand over his shoulder without looking and the cup, zipping past too fast to see, exploded in mid air. "I told you that didn't I?"

Ginny just stared, this was too much. All the marauders expected insanity from Harry but this...

Malfoy was the first to speak.

"You bought an impact sphere?" He was looking at the bowling ball like thing. "You shouldn't have, my father had two in his vault."

"I may need spares." Harry shrugged.

"Harry is this stuff dark magic?" Hermione was shying away from the table.

"Depends on your perception." Harry replied airily. "It's certainly illegal magic. Whether it's dark is more about the use it's put to than the thing itself. These things are just tools."

"And the guns?" Hermione pointed. "Did you buy those illegally too?"

"Strangely no, I bought them legally in Vegas." Harry picked up the largest one. The marauders took a collective step back. "Bringing them back to the UK was the illegal bit."

"Wh... wh..."

"No wait, I used fake i.d. to buy them... never mind." Harry shrugged. "Yes I bought them illegally."

"Harry, your wand..." Malfoy was staring at the bramble-wood wand in Harry's hand. "Are you still using the one you stole from Macnair?"

"Yes," Harry clanced down at the dark wand. "Why do you ask?"

"Harry, do you not think that using a wand you stole from a dead death eater is a bit..." Malfoy swallowed. "A bit... creepy?"

"Why? I was the one that killed him."

"You could buy a new one from Ollivander." Neville suggested.

"And risk it not working as well as this one does?" Harry balanced the thick, twisted wand on the edge of his hand before flicking it up into the air and catching it, all the while with the gun held nonchalantly in his other hand. "This one works for me, maybe as well as my old one did. Besides... it sort of fits doesn't it? This wand's done a lot of violence in it's lifetime. Lots of hurting, fighting, and that's exactly what I intend to use it for."

Hurting? Fighting?... _Killing..._ Ginny swallowed. Harry hadn't said that last one but she could feel him thinking it.

"Harry why are you doing this?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean why?" Harry looked at Neville, then at Malfoy. "Didn't you tell them?"

"Yeah. I told them." Neville said softly.

"Then what?" Harry dropped the gun back down to the table. It sounded heavy. "I need to fight Voldemort. I _have_ to fight Voldemort."

"Yeah but Harry-" Ginny started, but was cut off.

"I have to fight Voldemort and you know what? I'll lose!" Harry slashed the air angrily. "I'll lose, I mean what else would happen? I spotty, ignorant fifteen year old against the most dangerous wizard on the planet? I'll lose, he'll win, we'll all be screwed. Don't you see? I can't afford to be an ignorant teenager any more. I have to be better. I _need_ to be better. Because I can't lose, can't afford to lose. None of us can afford for me to lose. Do you know what it feels like to know that the whole world is royally screwed if you fail? No? Then shut up! Don't try to stop me and don't ask me _why!_ I know why, and if you took a microsecond to think you'd know why too!"

Harry's angry tirade shocked the marauders into silence. Harry turned back to his pile of junk and began duplicating a heavy glass bowl.

"Harry... you don't know when the prophecy will happen." Neville surprisingly spoke up. "Maybe you won't be fifteen. Maybe you'll be twenty, or thirty. Maybe you have time..."

"Do you want to risk everything on maybe?" Harry answered without looking up. "Well I'm not. It could be any time so I have to be ready any time. It could be tomorrow too."

"Do you want someone to duel against?" Malfoy said quietly.

"You...!" Hermione whirled on him. "You can't help him!"

"Why not? He's right." Malfoy shrugged, apparently unimpressed by Hermione's angry face.

"Dumbledore said-"

"Dumbledore has been wrong before." Malfoy cut her off. "It hurts nothing to be ready in case he's wrong this time."

"But Harry could be killed!"

"Yes." Malfoy nodded curtly. "He could. Did you not realize that? Did you perhaps think what happened last year was some sort of funny game?"

"Of course not, but-"

"Well then." Malfoy sidestepped Hermione. "We duel. Besides... not like there's anything else to do around here."

"Good point." Ginny was surprised to hear her own voice. Oh no now everyone was looking at her, better say something. "And since we're all targets maybe we should try learning some stuff too."

"At least we'll all get O's in defense." Padma smiled wryly.

"So we're not going to talk about the prophecy?" Hermione turned to face Harry.

"What's there to say?" Harry shrugged. "It's fairly self explanatory. No one but me can kill Voldemort. Not much to discuss."

"I... guess so..." Hermione bit her lip. "There's an order meeting tonight. Maybe we can ask Dumbledore..."

"Good." Harry hoisted a glass bowl onto his shoulder and flung it out into the room. He aimed his wand and muttered under his breath. The bowl melted and splattered into a steaming heap on the floor. "There are some things I want to ask him too."

"Where have you lot been!" Molly Weasley drew herself up. "You disappeared hours ago! All of you, gone all day! Now you're back and you look like you've been fighting! Now you... Where do you think you're going!"

"Hu?" Draco turned from his progress towards the door. "What do you mean 'Where am I going'? I'm going to the kitchen."

"You come back here young man!"

"Why? I'm not your family. Nor am I one of these other waifs you seem to have adopted. I don't care for your opinion, nor for your misplaced and overworked maternal instinct. I'm certainly not going to let you yell at me while _you_ live under _my_ roof." Draco turned back to the door...

"Get back here!"

...and walked happily through it, with enraged silence left behind him.

"You do know that means you'll have to make you're own breakfast from now on."

"Tonks." Draco smiled and walked through the now crowded kitchen to where his cousin was sitting. Next to the werewolf. Draco shuddered inwardly and sat on her other side. "I couldn't eat another fried breakfast anyway. Any more and my broom won't be able to hold me."

"I doubt that little cousin." Tonks prodded him playfully before growing serious. "How's Harry doing?"

"He's..." Draco licked his lips and gestured for her to lean closer. "He's accepted the prophecy. He's accepted that he will fight Voldemort. He's preparing for it."

"That sounds ominous." Tonks shook her head. "Dumbledore's not going to like it."

"Don't tell him."

"I won't, but he'll find out anyway."

"Will he?" A new voice came in. Draco looked up to see Harry slide in across from them. The werewolf grunted and got up, not looking at Harry. Tonks glanced after him, confused. Harry ignored it.

"How'd you get away?" Draco asked.

"Disillusion." Harry shrugged. "That deep into a tirade I doubt she'll count how many people she's yelling at. So... when's Dumbledore getting here?"

"Now." Tonks stood as the ancient man walked into the kitchen. Harry was instantly on the other side of the bench and stepping up beside the Headmaster and tugging on his robe.

"Professor, can I talk to you ab-"

"After the meeting Harry." Dumbledore brushed him off. "You have my word. But right now some of the order members have important missions they must get back to quickly."

"Of course." Harry stepped back, nodding amicably. "I understand."

_What?_ Draco crossed his arms and frowned. Why was Harry being so calm? What was going on? As the order members filed out he sidled up to Harry's side?

"What was that?"

"What?"

"You being calm and nice towards Dumbledore. What are you up to?"

"I'm always nice."

"You're always up to something."

"Are you suggesting?" Harry drew himself up haughtily. "That I am only nice when I have an agenda? That I am manipulative and self serving that way? That I would only be calm if I, oh say... wanted to slip a listening device into the pocket of someone's robes before they went into an order meeting... or something like that?"

Snape stepped into the manor and strode towards the main dining room. He wasn't late precisely, just... no longer appropriately prompt. He pushed the door open and walked to the open seat next to Natalie.

"Have I missed anything important?"

"Attacks." The unspeakable was idly scraping her finger along the edge of a copy of the daily prophet. "Dark marks. Wizards and witches we suspect have been turned, or put under the imperious curse.

"Nothing important then."

"Nothing new at least." Natalie tuned to him. "Did you hear they found Harry?"

"I heard Harry found them." Snape cracked a smile. "Or Moody at least."

"Severus," A soft voice called. Snape looked over to Dumbledore, who was looking at him expectantly. "Is there any news?"

"Yes." Snape brought himself back to the task at hand. "The dark lord is moving."

"Well duh." The voice near the end of the table was swiftly silenced by a flat stare.

"The dark lord is moving more _specifically_. Now that Greyback is dead all but a few of the werewolves have deserted him. He seeks new troops to sew panic, he has chosen to acquire by solid wealth this time rather than empty promises. He is arranging purchase of large numbers of various exotic species, lethifolds primarily. Chimaeras if it can find a willing seller."

"Why?" Lupin asked from down the table. "Why mindless beasts?"

"Precisely because they are mindless." Snape explained. "His criminal army from Azkaban has not been as effective as he hoped."

"They've torn the country apart!" Someone yelled.

"But only in their own capacity. They have not followed orders well, they are distracted. The dark lord has killed a lot of them, he seems tired of human failings. In a way he doesn't want an army, he wants a weapon. Something he can unleash at will. Doubtless he will be employing the imperious curse to see that his will is done."

"It doesn't work on lethifolds." Lupin said with certainty. A little sniff of relief slid through Snape's mind, swiftly swallowed up with darkness.

"But it does work on chimeras. And on manticores."

"Manticores?" The former defense teachers eyes grew wide.

"Well, manticore at present. But he is looking for others."

"Why not simply use it on the criminals?" Someone asked.

"Both because that would make them less effective fighters and because long exposure to the Dementors seems to have made them surprisingly resistant to mental attacks." Snape leant closer over the table to speak to the order as a whole. "I have the dates he plans to meet with creature traders. If we arrange a trap we can get ahead of him and-"

"No." Dumbledore spoke with quiet authority.

"We cannot allow this to happen."

"If we act he will assuredly guess the source of our information." Dumbledore shook his bearded head. "You are too valuable at present to risk. You are our only source of information."

"Information we never act on." Snape clenched his fists on the cold mahogany table. "What use is my spying... what use is _this order_ if we are too scared to ever act."

"We cannot act rashly."

_I do not act rashly. You simply do not act._ Snape bit back the words we wanted to fling at the old man. It would be pointless.

"We could instead liaise with the foreign auror departments." Snape tried to trick himself into thinking this was anything other than a damage limiting attempt. "They could arrest some of the traders before the dark lord can meet with them."

"Perhaps," Dumbledore nodded. "There are very few people we can trust. I will try to get in contact with some old friends that may be able to help."

_Old friends? Of yours? Won't they be dust or lingeringly senile ghosts by now?_

Natalie gave no outward sign that she had heard Snape's projected though, but she reached over and laid her hand on his arm.

"Is there anything else?"

"Barty Crouch still has not returned." Snape shook his head, Barty Crouch had become Voldemort's favorite, surpassing even Belatrix. Snape had hoped at one time that Barty's failure to gain the ministry would count against him, and it had, but apparently throwing it into turmoil had been enough. That and successfully bringing Harry Potter directly to the dark lord. All that made it even more suspicious that Barty was absent from death eater gatherings. The dark lord kept his servants close, if he was letting one off their tether then it had to be for something important.

"Do you think he has left the country?" Someone down the table asked.

"It is possible." Snape nodded. "But whatever he is doing it has it's root here. The dark lord has always intended to take this country before moving on to the rest of the world. That has not changed. It may also involve espionage."

"Why do you say that?"

"It is Barty Crouch's specialty is it not?" Snape shrugged. "But the dark lord has ordered me to begin researching polyjuice potion in an attempt to make it work for any humanoid species."

"You think it is connected?"

"I do not know." Snape answered honestly. "It could just as easily be involved in his attempts to gain the support of the giants."

"The dark lords plans are like spiderwebs." Natalie said softly. "We can assume everything is connected." If anyone other than Snape heard her they said nothing.

"Is that all?"

"Other than hours of listening to the dark lords dark pontificating on the subject of the death or subjugation of all muggles?" Snake crooked an eyebrow. "No."

"Good. What news from the ministry?" Dumbledore had turned to Shacklebolt, who sighed and shook his head.

"It has become official. Fudge is still minister for magic."

A general groan went up from around the room. Snape just closed his eyes and took a calming breath. After the events of last year the ministry had been fractured to its very core. The near-election of a death eater had made them fearful as rabbits. Fudge had, the moment Dumbledore left the building, ran back to his office and virtually barricaded himself inside. All summer he had been wrangling the ministry around to the idea that his expulsion was not valid because of the deceptions of Barty Crouch Jr.

That was, Snape had to admit, technically true. Although the vote to remove Fudge had been won by a comfortable margin the original _motion_ to remove a minister for magic could only be tabled by a member of the Wizengamot. Crouch Jr was not a member, only impersonating one, therefore the motion and, by extension, the vote was void. A piece of bureaucratic foolishness that meant they were stuck with that ridiculous man until someone else drummed up enough support to oust him.

"We could replace him." Natalie said, seeming to read his thoughts like she often did (even when not actually doing so). "Everyone in my department thinks he's a joke."

"Ours too." Shacklebolt rumbled.

"The whole ministry does." Arthur Weasley added. "The whole wizarding population. The problem is that no one wants to put in a nomination for fear of looking like they're following Crouch's example."

"So we put someone forward." Snape said definitely. "We field a candidate no one can argue is a death eater."

"And they will be shot down by those who resent Dumbledore interfering in the ministry. Fudge was not the only one." Shacklebolt shook his head. "I realize this opinion may not be the most easy to hear, but perhaps we should allow him to stay for now."

"What?" Snape asked acidically. His anger was echoed down the table as others voiced their complaint.

"I realize the situation is not ideal." Shacklebolt held his hands up. "But Fudge is scared to touch any known order members or anyone else who waves Dumbledore's standard. As a result he is leaving the aurors office and the rest of the department relatively untouched. We can carry out our work without any overbearing oversight for now. And besides, with all the ex-Azkaban residents running around causing trouble we do not have time for a political battle on top of that. If we can not have a sympathetic minister of magic, one that stays out of our way is a good second choice."

"So it is agreed." Dumbledore looked up solemnly. "We allow him to remain while he remains un-troublesome."

Snape grimaced but didn't comment. Once more nothing would be done.

"Is guard duty for the next week set up?" Dumbledore asked the assembled order. There was a general nodding. It had not been hard to organize, not with a member inside the department of mysteries.

"Then we should all get back to work." Dumbledore stood. "And we should all prepare for attacks by magical beings. Lupin can, I'm sure, remind you of the best methods to repel them."

Snape stood quickly, he couldn't be missed for long. The dark lord was as watchful of his servants as he was of his of his enemies. Snape turned to Natalie,

"My guard duty is scheduled for Tuesday, at eleven."

"I'll be sure to be in the office then." Natalie nodded. Snape knew that he would be living for Tuesday at eleven. He reluctantly turned and made for the door. Unfortunately there was a blockage, the whole order was bunched up at the wide double doors. Snape quickly pushed to the front and was almost forced to laugh.

Harry had built a barricade.

The fifth year was sitting casually on an overturned desk, resting his feet on a drawer. The rest of the arching wall was mostly chairs and tables, and one suit of armor.

"Harry this was not necessary." Dumbledore stepped forward, his hands stretched peacefully. "I promised we would talk."

"I wanted your full attention." Harry replied wryly. "I want to fight."

"Harry you are not old enough to join the order."

"You think Voldemort will care?"

"We will keep you safe from Voldemort."

"Right." Harry dropped off his perch and landed, cat like, on the floor. "'Cos that tactic's worked wizard so far. You know I have to fight. I have to fight him."

"Harry I have made my decision."

"I contest the sanity of your decision." Harry grated. "You just going to let Voldemort walk all over this country?"

"Harry Potter I have had enough of this." Dumbledore waved his wand angrily. The barricade disappeared with a deafening crack. "You will stay where I put you until it is safe for you to do otherwise. If you will spare no thought for your own safety others must do it for you. You will stay here. You will be safe here."

"Unless a lethifold creeps in through the window." Harry said flatly. Dumbledore went cold, then glanced at Snape. Harry chuckled and continued. "Don't look at him. This is you're fault. You let me hear everything."

"How Harry?" Dumbledore crooked an eyebrow, but his usual good humor was gone.

"I'll let you stew over it." Harry folded his arms. "I want to fight. I want to sit in order meetings. I want a tutor to teach me to duel."

"You may have none of those things." Dumbledore wasn't moving, just standing like a statue. Radiating menace. "As for defense training you will find it at Hogarts, in your regular defense class."

"Well I hope at least you've got someone good." Harry sneered, then, glancing at McGonagall, let out a little choked laugh. "You haven't found anyone have you?"

"I will not discus this with you Harry." Dumbledore drew his wand. "I have more important things to do." And with that he turned and apparated away with an angry crack.

The order members began to shuffle out, giving Harry a wide berth. Lupin in particular was staring at him with what could only be described as loathing. Snape walked up to the solitary student.

"Perhaps you should not antagonize him."

"He antagonizes me." Harry answered, sounding a little defeated. "I don't understand him."

"Few people do."

"You?"

"No."

"Great." Harry shrugged, then looked up to meet Snape's eyes. "Would... you teach me to fight?"

I should have expected that question. Snape took a breath to give himself time to consider his response.

"No."

"Why?" Harry asked, sounding somewhere between anger and helplessness. "You know what's at stake!"

"If I teach you then you will fall into the trap of thinking you are ready." Snape shook his head. "I could pass on everything I know to you and you would still lose to the dark lord because I would lose to the dark lord."

"I'm not just gonna rush in half cocked."

"You will, inevitably." Snape said, hoping bluntness could get through to him. You will inevitably seek him out because, despite everything you have gone through, you are still a teenage boy."

"I'm not an idiot."

"Yes you are." Snape corrected. "You are young, by definition you are an idiot."

"Haven't been young for weeks." Harry drew up his sleeve and unclipped an unexpected bracer. "Not since I got this."

Snape momentarily thought of asking where he had got the evil eye bracer but thought better of it. The answer was of no particular use. He almost wanted to ask if Harry had a spare.

"Harry..." Snape glanced around to see if anyone was listening. Natalie was but that was beyond the point. "If you want my advice you will continue as you have no doubt been doing. Train, learn everything you can. When the time comes, I promise I will teach you."

"Fine." Harry seemed defeated, distant. "Will you at least teach me occlumency? I can't use that to fight."

"I will think on it. Now I must go." Snape turned and walked away. It was surprisingly difficult.

"Fine." Harry muttered to himself. "I'll try Moody."

The marauders had to hunt Harry again that evening. He had disappeared before dinner and was nowhere to be seen. The border wards hadn't been tripped but with Harry that meant next to nothing. They found him in a disused stairway, sitting in the rainbow blur of a stained glass window. With the light mottling his skin like some jungle cat the marauders hesitated to approach him.

"You missed dinner." Ron eventually began.

"Not hungry."

"What were you doing?"

"Begging. Again." Harry let out a rough, sick, laugh. "Full circle."

"What do you mean begging?" Fred frowned. "You've got money don't you?"

"Not money." Harry was still looking up into the light. "I've spent the evening begging order members, aurors... everyone really, to teach me to fight. Waste of my time..." Harry trailed off shaking his head.

"They said no?" Malfoy was leaning against a banister. "Who did you ask?"

"Snape, Moody, Tonks, Shacklebolt, McGonagall..." Harry sighed. "Flitwick, he was a dueling champion. I even asked Lupin, or tried to before he slammed the door on me. Why would he do that? Why would any of them... they know what I have to do. They have to know..."

"We'll help you Harry." Ginny stepped forward. "We said we would."

"It's not the same. I need a teacher." Harry shook his head. "There's only so much I can get from books and... peer learning."

"Well... maybe you could ask whoever they get to teach defense this year." Hermione suggested. "Or maybe they'll be really good any you won't have to."

"You don't get it!" Harry covered his face with his hands. "It's not just chucking around a couple of stunners. None of you have seen a real wizards duel, not proper dueling. Not like what Voldermort's capable of. Not like what _I'll_ have to be capable of if I want to stand a chance at winning. None of you have seen it."

"Really, have _you_ seen it?" Padma asked, eyebrows raised.

"Of course, I saw... him... duel with..." Harry paused for a moment, then a fraction of a sparkle lit the corner of his eye. "With _him_. Maybe..."

"Harry?" Hermione reached out but Harry had shot to his feet like a jack in a box.

"Has Digger found your owlery?" He was looking at Malfoy.

"Yes your poor over-traveled and long-suffering bird has found my owlery." Malfoy rolled his eyes. "If you're going to globetrot you should really tell your owl to stay home."

"I would." Harry disappeared up the stairs. "But I don't have a home."

The next day, at breakfast, Harry seemed strangely chipper.

"We should go back to the cellar, maybe duel some, hang out. Bring the chess set if you want." Harry was idly juggling three oranges in his right hand while gesturing with the other. "After toast obviously."

"Sure... sure Harry." Hermione was nodding a little carefully, like someone talking to a man with a hand grenade. Which, given Harry's current track record, might have been the case. "We'll do that."

"Should practice shields too." Harry switched the oranges to both hands then quickly back to his right.

"Great... good... wonderful."

"Let's go then." Harry pocketed the fruit and led the confused marauders, and Malfoy, from the room. As Harry pushed the door open he pulled up short. Lupin was frozen in front of him, his hand raised to reach for the door. His smile had frozen and dropped into the scowl he always wore on seeing Harry.

"Yes Professor?" Harry asked pointedly. "Something the matter?"

Lupin seemed to almost growl but cut himself off and pushed past Harry into the kitchen.

"What _is_ his problem?" Harry muttered.

"He was sort of alright before." Ron scratched his head.

"Before what?"

"Before well... you. Before you got here." Ron shrugged. "He was even kind of funny."

"Whatever." Harry shook his head. "I can't be bothered worrying about it. Lets go."

This wasn't the last Harry heard about it though. Lupin lived in the house, they bumped into each other all the time. Each time Harry was met by the same festering hatred. It was kind of disconcerting. Eventually Harry learned Lupin's routine and managed to mostly stay out of his way. Of course it helped that he spent at least ten hours a day in the empty cellar, sometimes with the marauders, sometimes with Draco, sometimes alone. Each day when Harry finally dropped himself into an icy bath to soothe his bruised frame he felt a kind of fiery satisfaction.

He was getting _better!_

He could beat any of the marauders one on one, even the twins. Draco was better, at the start he had beaten Harry a lot. Well, no... at the very start Harry had won. Then Harry had raged at the blond and forced him to really cut loose and use some of the nastier dark magic his father had taught him. With those spells in his arsenal Draco had been winning, but Harry was clawing back. He was getting better, there was no denying that. Every throbbing bruise, every morning waking up aching was a triumph because he was getting better. And that wasn't even considering his other toys.

Harry shifted his feet to rest on the top of a mahogany desk in the mansion library (there was some good stuff here, more spells to play with) when the door creaked open.

"Hello Tonks." Harry said, without looking up.

"Wotcher Harry." He was doing that more and more. He was like Dumbledore crossed with Moody crossed with Snape. Tonks winced inwardly, it wasn't the kids fault. He had been forced to become like this, canny and brutal as a feral fox. "What'ya reading?"

"_The gentleman's guide to effective and efficient application of pain._" Harry read calmly off the cover of the book.

"Oh..." There was no real response to that. "Any good?"

"Never knew there were so many uses for a riding crop." Harry folded the page down and looked up at her. "How are you doing? Order keeping you busy?"

"Oh definitely." Tonks ran a hand through her (currently blue) hair. "Between them and the aurors I'm run pretty thin."

"So I couldn't convince you to teach me to duel?" Harry asked cheekily.

"Sorry Harry, answer's still no." Tonks smiled, at least he wasn't holding it against her. "You seem to be doing ok on your own though."

"I try." Harry brightened up. "Want to duel sometime? You don't have to teach or talk or anything just a friendly duel?"

"I don't think Dumbledore would like that."

"Dumbledore doesn't have to know." Harry urged weedlingly.

"Sorry Harry."

"Damn." Harry sighed and looked like he was going to say something else but just shook his head. "Never mind. Was there something you wanted or did you just come to chat?"

"I was going to ask about Remus."

"Eh?" Harry's brow furrowed. "Who?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Oh him." Harry rolled his eyes. "What about him?"

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Tonks pulled a stool and sat on the other side of the desk. From this angle Harry resembled a very appraising interviewer. His beaten and frayed steel-capped boots up on one side of the desk and a huge pile of suspicious books on the other. In between he was regarding her piercingly over his wire glasses.

"What's wrong with him." Harry repeated levelly. "Apart from the whole fur and fangs thing?"

"Yes apart from that." Tonks nodded. "I meant-"

"Big thing to dismiss." Harry interrupted her. "The fact that he's a werewolf."

"They're not as bad as everyone says."

"They are in my experience."

"You clearly haven't met many."

"Met loads. Killed some." Harry said coldly.

"How can you just say that!" Maybe he had changed more than I thought. "They're people inside! They have souls! They're human!"

"I'm sorry Tonks," Harry held up his hands. "I know what you're trying to say. But I've only ever met one werewolf who hasn't tried to kill me and even he sometimes acts like he wants to. Pardon me for not having a _great_ opinion of the species. When I meet a werewolf who doesn't act like the monster they are inside maybe I'll think differently. Until then I think my hatred is justified." Harry voice was flinty and sharp, and more than a little scary.

"I'm sorry Harry." Tonks repeated. "They're not all bad, I wish I could make you see that. You just... I guess I can't. You seem to have been forced to see the worst of everything."

"Occupational hazard." Harry smiled sadly, then shook it off and grinned. "Sorry, we seem to have gotten sidetracked into a character moment. What was the original question?"

"Remus... or Professor Lupin. Before you came here he was... different."

"I've heard."

"He was really funny."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"He had lots of these stories about what he did when he was young."

"Chase milkmen?"

"No Harry." Tonks tried not to react. "Did you know he knew your father?"

"I was aware." Harry sighed heavily. "Sorry Tonks, I don't think I can help you much. He's always been like this around me. The others tell me he was different around me. Ginny's in a different year and according to her he was a great teacher to them. It's just around me Tonks. It's just me."

"But _why?_"

"I dunno!" Harry threw up his hands. "Ask him!"

"He... he won't tell me." Tonks looked at the floor. When she had asked him he had just turned and left the room in the middle of her question. He hadn't spoken to her for days. "I thought you might know, or at least have a guess."

"Best I can come up with is I remind him too much of what he lost." Harry shrugged. Tonks considered this. Harry's guesswork was probably worth an essay from anyone else, the kid could read people scarily well. Harry continued, "I mean I get the impression he didn't talk to much of anyone after my parents died. He may blame me come to think of it. You know... for their deaths."

"That doesn't sound like Lupin."

"Not the Lupin _you_ know." Harry shrugged. "If nothing else I'll be gone in another week. He should be back to normal after that. You should have your big fluffy, funny Lupin back."

"I guess so." Tonks stood. "Thanks Harry."

"Stay safe Tonks." Harry flicked his book back open.

"You too Harry."

The marauders didn't take the train to Hogwarts that year. They were flued into Hogsmeade under an order guard. As they walked up the long road to the castle Ginny fell back to where Harry was walking.

"Why aren't you angry?"

"Why would I be angry Ginsters?" Harry smiled a little smugly.

"We're going back to Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's thumb." Ginny shrugged. "I dunno I just sort of expected you to try and escape or something."

"Don't encourage him." Malfoy murmured dryly from behind her.

"I'm not running off." Harry said with a twinkle in his eye. "I'm right where I want to be."

When they walked in the feast had already started. The marauders were forced to find a clear section of table with the whole hall murmuring and pointing.

"Is it me or are the tables a bit emptier than usual?" George said, scanning over the hall.

"Lots of parents decided to keep their kids home this year." Parvati said sadly. "Our parents almost did but well..."

"We convinced them Hogwarts was safer than home." Her sister ended for her.

"Wonder who the new defense teacher is?" Ron gestured with a chicken leg at the empty space on the teacher's table. Ron looked down the table. "Oy! Dean! Did they announce anything about the new teacher?"

"Nothing!" Came the shouted response. The marauders collectively shrugged, except for Harry who just smiled faintly.

He knows. Ginny realized but stopped herself from asking. Harry wouldn't tell and they'd know soon enough.

"Students!" Dumbledore stood. The hall quieted down. "I have a few announcements to make. Firstly, as you may have realized, some of your classmates have decided not to join us. This is of course their choice, or that of their parents, and I hope that you treat then no differently if they decide to rejoin us. Secondly as you know, if you do not live on the moon, the dark lord has returned. I wish to make both that and this next fact perfectly clear. He cannot hurt you here. Behind the walls of Hogwarts you are safe. Thirdly, and most happily, we have a new defense teacher. One that, I am sure you will all enjoy learning from. So I would invite you to join me in saying welcome, or more correctly welcome back, to Professor M-"

"Yes! Your prayers have been answered!" The huge doors to the great hall boomed open. "I am, thanks to massive public demand, BACK!"

"It's him!"

"Can't be..."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Horray!"

"Yes, yes thank you!" The muscled figure lapped up the praise, grinning from one side of his face to the other. He was the same as ever, maybe his hair was a little shorter, his tan a little deeper, his arms more scarred, his legs clad in denim instead of leather and his fedora replaced with a folded handkerchief. But it was _him,_ unmistakable and in the flesh.

"I'm back in the country! Back in action! Back in print! The one, the only MARKUS TRIPPLE M MICHELSON!" The blond colossus punched the air and the hall jumped to their feet in cheers. "But please... call me Maximus. No no wait... call me _Professor_ Maximus."

Harry dropped out of his window that night after everyone had eventually gone to sleep and made his way down to the rooftops. Finding Michelson's office was easy, the light was still guttering from the crack under the door. Harry knocked calmly, a moment later the door opened.

"Was wondering if I'd see you tonight Pipsqueak."

"Well I had to greet the new professor." Harry stepped into the office, it was already all set out. It looked almost exactly the same as it had three years ago, with one or two additions. Harry leant to look at a shifting wizard picture. It showed a huge crowd of people, all but one of them looking African, standing in rows like a school photo. Sticking out like a sore thumb was Markus Michelson in the third row, grinning and jerking his thumb at the thing behind them. Even lying on it's side it towered over even Markus, spotted and studded with spears and burn scars it looked like a...

"You did it!" Harry turned grinning to his teacher. "Nundu hunt!"

"Took it down with only eighty six people." Michelson nodded smugly. "New world record. I got the tail."

"Nice." Harry grinned. "Have you been in Africa the whole time?"

"Nah," Markus snorted. "I was in Norway when your owl reached me. Relatively close."

"And you came back." Harry grew serious. "Thank you. I know I asked a lot."

"You saved my life once." Markus clapped Harry on the shoulder, severely buffeting him. "Brothers at arms remember. And besides, I like Hogwarts."

"Did you tell Dumbledore why you were asking for your job back?"

"Didn't come up." Markus grinned slyly. "I get the impression he'd rather I didn't teach you?"

"No." Harry rolled his eyes. "He wants to cover me up in bubble wrap. Want's to keep me _safe_ and out of danger."

"Big men like us attract danger." Markus said definitely. "Only way to be safe is to know how to look after yourself, and you're hardly a child. Not after what you've been through."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Well in that train of thought." Markus drew his long wand. "When do you want to start? How's now?"

"Now?" Harry flicked his wand out of his sleeve. "Now's good."


	36. Changeling Child: 2

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 2: Cold Warrior

"Mr Potter."

"Professor Dumbledore." Harry looked up from the breakfast table. "Hi, how are you? Would you like a pop tart?"

"No Mr Potter, I would not."

"Are you sure? There's strawberry, chocolate, cherry-"

"Mr Potter where were you last night?"

"I assume in bed." Harry replied calmly.

"Have you forgotten Harry?" Dumbledore's voice was flat and a touch threatening. "I have ways of telling where you are in Hogwarts. You were not in Hogwarts for much of last night, you were only in your bed from around one in the morning."

Damn it. Harry tried not to scratch the bracer on his wrist. He had been so hoping the evil eye could protect him from Dumbledore's map.

"Your map must be faulty." Harry grinned.

"My map is not faulty!" Dumbledore snapped. "Tell me how you left Hogwarts!"

"I didn't leave."

"Do not lie to me Harry Potter!" The whole school was watching now in rapt attention.

"Getting a little angry Professor?" Harry asked. "Maybe your map... no, maybe your _knowledge_ isn't as complete as you think."

"I dislike being kept in the dark."

"Then prepare to _suffer_." Harry said darkly. "I've been kept dark for years by you. It's time you reaped what you arrogantly and unthinkingly sowed. Prepare to _live_ in the dark Professor. I hope you brought lanterns." With that Harry stood and walked from the hall, with every eye following.

"Harry? Harry! Ha... oh he is here." Parvati pointed into the disused attic the marauders had used the previous year. Ginny looked in and saw him calmly chalking something on the floor. The marauders wandered in slowly, with Malfoy close behind.

"Hi guys." Harry got to his feet and threw a piece of chalk he had been using away. "Just getting this place ready, we can use it to train after lessons."

"Harry where _were_ you last night?" Hermione asked the question none of them wanted to voice.

"What you guys too?" Harry laughed and summoned a mug of coffee off a pile of books. "Relax, I didn't leave Hogwarts. I was just training in a place the map can't see, that's all."

"Where?" Ginny asked at the same time as Malfoy said,

"The room of requirements?"

"The what of what?" Harry shook his head. "Nah, just... somewhere. Anyway look at this." Harry pointed down at the floor. On it there were a number of rectangles, some long, some short, some thin. It looked kind of familiar.

"It's the bookcases." Harry said proudly. "In the room beneath us."

"Wh... why?" Ron asked.

"Don't ya see?" Harry grinned. "It's Dumbledore's map. It's _2D_ you see, birds eye view, he can't tell what floor we're on. So long as we don't cross the bookcases he'll think we're just in the library. So long as we're in curfew we can train in here without him knowing. Anyway, lets go to potions. Don't want Snape angry at us."

"Harry," Padma stopped him with an outstretched hand. "Did you have to be so... adversarial... with Dumbledore?"

Harry paused for a moment before answering...

"Yes."

... and walking on out of the attic. The marauders shared a long look and followed him.

Potions passed uneventfully. Harry split his time between the book on his knees and the cauldron in front of him meaning that his potion wasn't even near finished. but at least it didn't explode. Charms was next and Harry didn't bother paying attention there either, though in this case it was because he already knew how to give objects wings. He could give them swan wings if he wanted, or giant black leathery ones. When the lesson was over Harry didn't even bother to speak, he just gathered his stuff and rushed back to the attic. Ginny met them on the way.

"We're not going to lunch?" Ron asked as they reached the musty room.

"No."

"But I'm hungry!"

"Call Dobby." Harry shed his robe and stepped into the center of the largest empty space. "Malfoy, you first."

"If you're sure." Malfoy drew his wand. "You injured your hand last time."

"Did I?" Harry froze.

"Well you're not using it."

"It's fine, It's my left anyway." Harry shrugged and wiggled his fingers as proof.. "Must have fallen on it or something."

"If you're sure." Malfoy said dubiously. "Well then... _Expelliarmus!_"

"_Ferio! Stupefy!_" Harry shot Malfoy's spell out of the air and threw his own a moment after. The blond boy shielded and Harry was forced to duck under his own stunner. "_Fulgar Fletch!_" Harry flicked his wand and sent a swarm of sparkling blades flickering through the air towards the momentarily shocked Malfoy.

"_Protego!_" Draco shielded desperately but was forced backwards as the flencers hit it.

"_Mobilisolum!_" Harry jerked the floor towards him and saw Malfoy topple onto his back. "_Stupefy!_"

"_Volucers!_" Malfoy's wand jabbed into the air and Harry the stunner was absorbed by a black cloud. The cloud expanded and rushed towards the shocked Harry.

"Bloody hell!" Harry heard Fred yell at the same time as his twin yelled, "Hornets!"

"Arg! Ouch!" Harry felt stings on every piece of open flesh. Burning all across his skin like a chemical fire. Another wizard would have been overpowered by the pain, but Harry had felt far far worse. "Take this! _Tempesto!_"

Wind sprung from the dead air and rushed over Harry, carrying the Hornets away in a furiously buzzing tornado.

"Eat it Blondie." Harry grinned and flicked his wand towards his opponent. The Slytherin's triumphant grin suddenly turned to fear and pain as the swarm engulfed him.

"Fin-ow! Fi- bloody things! _Finite Crabro!_" The hornets disappeared and Draco was left disheveled and snarling in the middle of the whirlwind. Harry let it rage for another second before canceling it too. The two combatants stared each other down for a few moments, both pockmarked with stings and sweating.

"Maybe you two should stop." Hermione suggested hesitantly from the sidelines. "Before you hurt yourselves. More I mean."

"Maybe we should." Malfoy said, lowering his wand.

"I guess." Harry smiled, knowing this game. He kept a close grip on his wand. Wait for it...

"_Confringo!_"

"_Protego!_" Harry's shield was up in plenty of time to block the curse. "Ha! Nice-" Harry's shield shattered and he was lifted off his feet as his chest exploded in pain. He was thrown backwards and rolled across the pitted and scarred floor. He jerked before he hit the slanted wall and managed to push himself to his feet. His wand was gone, rolled across the floor away from him.

"Damn it! Damn it! Stupid bloody shield!"

"Are you injured Harry?" Malfoy called out.

"I'm fine." Harry pushed himself off the floor. "Bloody shield broke like a pastry shell! Keeps doing that..."

"It's the wand movement Harry." Hermione called out. "If you look at the theory-"

"I've read the theory. I've read the original paper. I've read the whole book." Harry grabbed his wand off the floor. "I don't get it. It's a charm, it's a basic bloody charm and I can't do it right."

"You can." Neville said encouragingly. "It can stop basic spells."

"Well Voldemort won't use _basic spells!_" Harry punched the floor violently. "He'll use nasty, evil, _powerful_ spells."

"You're right." Malfoy said flatly. "He'll be using the killing curse and it won't matter if you have the best shield in the world. If you don't dodge you're dead."

"Simplification." Harry waved the comment away. "Come on, we've got time for another duel before creatures. Unless we skip it..."

"We can't." Hermione said automatically.

"Especially since we know Voldemort's boosting his army with dark creatures." Padma agreed.

"Fine fine." Harry shook his head. "Ron and Hermione, duel me."

"Both of us?"

"Like, at the same time?"

"Yes." Harry shucked off his sweat soaked t-shirt. "Get on with it."

"But that's not fair." Ron pointed out.

"Neither's this." Harry blasted the floorboards by Ron's feet causing him to yelp like a puppy. "Draw your bloody wands."

In the end they were glad for the outdoor setting of creatures, although they were the only ones not wearing coats. Harry eased his aching left hand in a slow circle, it was worth it. It would be worth it. Harry listened with half an ear to the lesson, it was about unicorns. The chances of Voldemort sending an army on unicorns was low to laughable so Harry lidded his eyes and dozed.

As the lesson ended Parvati turned towards Harry to wake him and found that someone had beaten her to it. Someone unexpected.

"Oh no." She whispered under her breath.

"What is... oh." Her sister stood beside her. "This isn't going to end well."

"It could." Parvati said shakily. "He could apologize."

"Have you met Harry?"

Parvati's heart dropped and they watched mute as the figure tapped Harry on the shoulder.

"Hello Susan." Harry said calmly, then opened his eyes. "Is the lesson over?"

"Yes Harry, it is." Susan Bones folded her arms and seemed to be waiting.

"Great," Harry stood and stretched. "Thanks for waking me." Harry turned to leave.

"_'Thanks for waking me'?_" Susan said incredulously. "That's it?!"

"What do you want Susan?" Harry asked flatly.

"You didn't write. The whole summer! You didn't say goodbye before you left. You just... disappeared."

"I was busy." Harry said sharply. "I still am. Anything else?"

"Wh... what is this Harry?" Susan swallowed. "Am I still your girlfriend? Are we arguing? Are we breaking up or did you break up with me at the end of last year and just forget to tell me?"

"Susan..." Harry glanced down, for the first time in the conversation his stony mask slipped a beat. But when he looked back up it was harder than ever. "I don't have time for a girlfriend now, and I won't for a long time. So yes, we're broken up." Harry turned and began to walk back up towards the castle.

Susan just stood there, her hands lightly clenching the fabric of her robes. Staring into space. As the twins watched she sobbed wetly and drew a hand across her eyes before running off towards the greenhouses, one arm shielding her face from any passers by.

"That was... I mean that was..." Parvati began bet trailed off. "What he did, it was just..."

"Cruel. Harsh. Cold. Evil." Padma finished for her.

"Yeah, that." Parvati nodded. "I'm going after her."

"Good. You do that. I'm going after Harry."

"I know what you're going to say." Harry said when Padma finally caught up to him in the hall.

"Well you're going to bloody listen anyway-"

"No I'm not." Harry interrupted, and disappeared. Padma saw the shadow of a disillusionment move off down a passage but lost it a moment later.

Harry wasn't in history of magic. No one expected him to be.

"Is this it now?" Padma asked her sister as they got ready for bed. "Fight all day? Let Harry bruise us up, ignore his new attitude and get ready for tomorrow so he can do it all over again?"

"He's going through some stuff." Parvati sighed. "He needs our help. He needs us."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

"He thinks this is what he has to do." Hermione voluntered. "He thinks he has to be like this to beat Voldemort. This hard, this cold."

"He's wrong!" Parvati insisted emotionally.

"That's the sad thing sister." Padma shook her head sadly. "He may not be."

Snape was awakened in the middle of the night by glowing silver light. One of the benefits of being an occlumens was total mental control and Snape was awake in an instant. As his eyes flickered open he groaned inwardly, then thought better of it and groaned outwardly.

"What is it you old fool?" Snape said angrily. The phoenix patronus couldn't hear him and wouldn't report back so it was a perfect target to vent at.

"Come to my office immediately Severus. It is about Harry."

Snape was already out the door before the silver bird disappeared. He shucked his robe on as he hurried down the corridor. Wait, why was he walking? Was Harry's safety less important than not looking stupid. Snape broke into a run. The sound of his flapping feet filled the corridor as he hammered towards the Headmaster's office.

"Slug ice-cream." The gargoyle slid aside and Snape threw himself into the stairwell. The stairs began to rise, painfully slowly. Snape gasped his breath back as he silently urged them to go faster. Eventually the Headmaster's door came into view and Snape pushed it open quickly and said, "Albus! I'm here."

"Severus welcome." The Headmaster was sitting calmly at his desk. "Read this if you would."

Snape blinked in confusion for a moment, then noticed the paper on Dumbledore's desk. He stepped closer and saw that it was an early copy of the Prophet. This was the emergency? Perhaps he was missing something?

_MURDER AFOOT_

Dannion LeSang was found dead in his home this morning. A window of his penthouse apartment had been shattered, possibly so that the killer could gain entrance. Once inside poor Mr LeSang was beaten horribly, with a blunt instrument, possibly a table leg. The aurors have cordoned off the area and refused to release any detals but this reporter has discovered that his injuries were not what killed him. Oh no he was poisoned! Poisoned by a toxin that the ministry

HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE!

Is there a psychotic killer at loose? The aurors gave no comment, perhaps because they as yet, know nothing! Why anyone would want to kill Mr LeSang is unknown, perhaps an old rival from his long and distinguished quidditch career...

Snape dropped the paper in disgust.

"Is this your emergency? Is this what you dragged me from my bed for?"

"Dannion LeSang was a known death eater."

"I am aware that Dannion LeSang was a death eater. Do you perhaps remember who informed you that Dannion LeSang was a death eater? Who gave you the shocking news that the daring, smiling, star chaser for the Wigtown Wanderers loved to torture muggles? Do you?"

"It was you."

"It was _me_."

"You do not think his death is important?"

"I do not think his death involved Harry."

"No order member was involved."

"Albus there are people other than the order who despise death eaters." Snape felt like laughing, and did. "People other than Harry as well. Perhaps-" Snape was cut off as the door to the office was flung open again.

"Why did you know the password you arrogant little toerag!" Filch dragged Harry in by the ear and pushed him onto the floor.

"Fairly obvious choice." Harry chuckled and pushed himself up from the floor. He was fully clothed, at two o clock in the morning. "I mean surely by now you've used all the non-disgusting sweets."

"Hello Harry. Thank you Mr Filch, you may go." Dumbledore gestured and the ancient stinking squib of a caretaker bowed out. As soon as he was gone Dumbledore handed the newspaper to Harry. "What do you know of this?"

Harry reached out slowly and took the paper, his eyes scanning from one side to the other. After a moment he looked up.

"I know nothing about this." Harry held out the paper. "May I go now?"

"You were not in history of magic yesterday." Dumbledore said pointedly. "Did you leave the castle?"

"I'm never in history of magic." Harry barked a laugh. "But no, I didn't leave the castle."

"You understand I have trouble trusting you Harry." Dumbledore said levelly. "It is very easy to see you turning vigilante. That would be a mistake."

"We've had this conversation before." Harry said abruptly. "Didn't end well for you I recall. But come on, poison? A toxin the ministry can't identify? Honestly, do you think that's me? You've seen my potions marks."

"I did not think you had the skills to brew it Harry. But I know you have the resources to buy it."

"Well I didn't." Harry threw the paper on the floor. "Can I go?"

Dumbledore leant back, meeting Harry's eyes with his own flinty stare. For a long moment the old wizard and the young stared each other down across the silent office. Snape could almost feel the sparking magic as the headmaster tried to force Harry's mind open. After a moment Harry snorted and said,

"Whatever." Harry turned and pushed the door open. "Wake me if you have any other unsolved murders you want to pin on a scapegoat."

The two teachers stood without speaking as they heard Harry's footsteps echoing away from the stairwell. Even after they had faded to nothing it was a long time before either of them spoke.

"Do you believe him Severus?"

"Yes."

"Why pray tell?"

"Because I trust him." That was a lie, it was because Harry wouldn't have broken a window.

"Mr Potter."

Hmmm...

"Harry Potter!"

Hmmm... sleepy.

"Harry Potter why is it always my class you choose to sleep in?"

Dumbledore's fault. Blame Dumbledore. Wanted to sleep...

"Alright fine Mr Potter. You have driven me to this." There was silence for a few moments, then... "_Sonorus_. HARRY POTTER GET UP!"

Harry was buffeted by sound and slowly, blearily, rubbed his eyes. In front of him was a broken glassy stump. Harry reached forward and picked it up.

"You broke my glass." Harry reached up to his face to make sure his own glasses weren't broken then drew his wand and repaired the champaign glass. He didn't even know what he was supposed to be turning it into, possibly some sort of squid.

Why a squid?

We were dreaming about a squid.

That makes no sense.

Shut up.

I can't shut up I'm part of your brain.

I'll lobotomize you.

No you won't, go back to thinking about squid. Or wait, maybe we should pay attention to McGonagall.

She is looking kind of angry.

"I can turn it into a squid. I swear, just watch." Harry held the glass up sleepily and tapped it with his wand. "_Kalamaraki Krasi_."

The glass split along its top, flipped upside down and scuttled along the desk blowing gassy bubbles out of a fleshy protrusion. Harry smiled,

"See! I did Ok."

"Harry..." McGonagall was staring at the glass squid, which was currently hiding behind a chair leg. "We were turning them into tulips."

"Wha...? We were?"

"How in the h... How did you do that?"

"I... don't know."

"Would you hazard a guess?"

"Well..." Harry tried to gum together an explanation from his shaky knowledge of Greek. "Well _Kalamaraki_ means squid... and I think _Krasi_ is some sort of vegetable..."

"Harry..."

"Yes?"

"Go back to sleep."

Harry gave a rough double thumbs up as he sank back down to the table.

Harry slipped into bed that night confident in the knowledge that he had got at least two hours sleep over the course of the day. He dozed with an alarm clock under pillow until it sounded and prompted him to shuck his blankets off and leant out of the window. He looked over towards the Headmaster's tower, the light was still on. Harry flicked a pair of binoculars out of his bag and focused in on the faraway window. Dumbledore was staring into a pensive, the silver light playing on his lined face. He looked tired, very tired.

But at least he wasn't looking at the map.

Harry slid out onto the wall and confidently let himself fall. The wind whistled thrillingly in his ears as the tiles rose up to meet him. A moment before he hit Harry felt a rough tugging around his chest and his terminal drop slowed to a crawl. His feet touched ground and he flitted off across the tiles. Harry reached the window that was his destination and flicked it open with his wand. He dropped through again, trusting his bought magic, and landed lightly in front of a sink.

"_Sissasc_." Harry hissed. The sink stayed exactly where it was. "Bugger, er... _Zissasc? Sizzak? Sizzasc? Ci..._" Harry broke off as the sink began moving.

"Damn! _Silencio_." Harry caught it before it made too much noise and watched as the entrance to the chamber of secrets was slowly revealed. Harry lowered himself into the tube and said, "_Cissycis_." This time he got it first time and the entrance began closing up as Harry slid off down the chute.

Harry landed feet first, expecting to hit mucky water, and instead felt dry rock. This place had been cleaned up a bit since last time he was here. Harry continued through the cave, passing the giant snake-door. The chamber was dark, maybe Markus wasn't here yet... Damn it!

Harry dove to the side as the stunner flashed through the air. He threw a bludgeoning hex towards where it had come from but heard nothing. A moment later Michelson appeared, totally unruffled, out of the shadows.

"Nicely done Pipsqueak." The Professor clapped his huge hands. "But you should have aimed more, that hex didn't have a chance of hitting me."

"I couldn't see you." Harry pointed out.

"You saw my spell." Markus folded his arms. "You saw where it was coming from. You also know the layout of this room and could use that cunning brain of yours to guess where I was hiding."

"There wasn't much time."

"Make time by moving faster." Michelson drew his wand and squared up in the middle of the room. "Come on lad, time to duel."

"Duel? Seriously?" Harry shed his robe. "I thought you were gonna teach me some more useful spells first. Right now I won't last ten seconds in a duel with you."

"Well who would?" Michelson laughed, then grew serious again. "You know enough spells to get started, we'll fill in the blanks on the way. Anyhow I've seen that you know spells. I want to see whether you know how to use them."

"Any rules?" Harry asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes, win."

"That could be troublesome to apply to both of us."

"Not for me. _Ewwyiky!_"

Harry had no idea what the hell that was so dived for cover, rolling and coming up with his wand trained on his teacher. Somewhere behind Harry there was a loud squelching sound but Harry was already fighting back.

"_Ferio!_" Harry threw, not expecting it to go through. Instead it was just a distraction for, "_Cronos spear!_"

"_Protego_." Markus wasn't fooled. Harry watched, awed, as Michelson angled his shield to reflect the bludgeoning hex right into the path of the frozen bolt following it, reducing them both to a shower of noisy sparks. "You'll have to do better than that!" The massive man called out calmly. Harry answered with violence.

"_Incendio! Reducto!_" Harry aimed the first at Markus and the second at the ceiling far above him. "_Stupefy!_" Harry blasted the spell into Makrus' face and didn't wait to see if it hit. Instead he aimed at a chunk of falling ceiling. "_Confringo!_" And flung himself away as it detonated like a bombshell. He rolled on the floor and came to his feet in time to fling the first three spells he could think off at the figure in the center of the expanding cloud of dust and fire.

The only warning Harry got was a flash of red before the spell flashed from the cloud and hit him in the stomach, throwing him to the floor.

"Better even than that." Michelson stepped out of the dust, not a hair out of place. "That was good though, imaginative. Good trick with the rock, might have caught a lesser wizard. Again."

Harry forced himself to his feet and raised his wand. This time he lasted just a few seconds before a stunner blasted through his hastily raised shield and knocked his lights out. Familiar unconscious blackness held him in it's comforting embrace for a few moments before Markus brought him back.

"That was not as good."

"I know, I know." Harry shook his head. "Bloody shield. I can't do it, it's useless."

"Don't use it then." Markus shrugged, as if they were discussing the weather.

"Don't shield?" Harry laughed humorlessly. "Just let stuff hit me?"

"Look kid, you first learnt this spell three years ago." Markus explained. "You've had to use it lots of times since then. You've practiced. You've practiced a lot and it hasn't got any better. It's fair to assume you and the shield charm just don't go well together. It happens."

"To you?"

"No. But to other people."

"So that's it?" Harry sighed. "No way around it?"

"Yes. Use other things." Markus turned and walked back to his starting mark. "You know plenty of other ways to block spells. Play to your strengths and use your prodigious imagination."

"Use your imagination." Harry rolled his eyes and wearily stood. "Right... _Incendio!_"

Harry lasted almost a minute of furious dodging and franticly blowing spells out of the air before he was disarmed and slapped himself hard. He had to be better.

"Again."

... Harry was clipped by a curse and went down...

"Again."

... Mown down by a bar of iron that came from nowhere...

"Again."

... Floored with a punch...

"Again!"

... paralysed...

"Again!"

... stunned...

"AGAIN!"

... shocked...

"_AGAIN!_"

"This is hopeless." Harry didn't bother to get up from the floor. "I'm not getting any better. We should just face it, I can't duel."

"Not with that attitude."

"I'm sorry I brought you here."

"I'm not." Markus folded his arms. "At least I wasn't until now."

"I thought I could get better."

"I think you can get better."

"Whole world should just give up." Harry held his head in his hands. "I can't beat him."

"Who? Voldemort?" Markus Michelson threw up his hands. "Well no! I don't think I could beat him. I don't think Dumbledore could beat him. He's one of the most powerful living wizards and has access to powers decent people don't touch. But if what you've told me is true then you've got... what was it?"

"_'A power he knows not'_" Harry quoted sarcastically.

"Right. But it doesn't matter." Markus walked around so he was standing in front of Harry. "I'd bet money on you even if there wasn't a prophecy."

"Why?"

"I'd get good odds." Markus smiled and winked. Harry didn't laugh. "But seriously, you can learn to duel. You already know enough to beat any regular wizard hands down."

"Voldemort isn't a regular wi-"

"I know!" Markus interrupted him angrily. "Which is why you need to learn to duel like a master. Which is why you called me. Which is why you should listen to me! Now... you need to play to your strengths. Tell me what you're good at."

"Oh come on." Harry snorted. "Don't give me this psyco-crap."

"What. Are. You. Good. At?" Michelson punctuated each word by poking Harry's sitting form.

"I... I don't know."

"Yes you do!"

"I don't." Harry shook his head. "I guess I'm not really good at anything useful."

"Oh for Merlin's sake! Who are you?" Markus leant down, his angrily pointing finger barely an inch from Harry's face. "Where's the Harry I met three years ago? I don't see him. Where the hell has he gone? Where's the kid who walked this school like he owned the place and obeyed teachers on sufferance? Where is that arrogant bastard because he's the one who can beat Voldemort! Not the whiney brat he apparently became! Well I need him here now! WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT!"

"I... Charms?" Harry said, staring up at Michelson.

"Right." Michelson nodded. "You're good at charms. You're excellent at charms. You're a bloody _savant_ at charms. If I heard the rumors in the staff room right you built a professional quality broom at thirteen years old. Out flew a Firebolt."

"That was mostly Ginny doing the flying." Harry shook his head again. "And anyway I don't see how that'll help me in a duel."

"Harry you..." Markus Michelson held his hand to his head and breathed out a long, tired breath. "Let me try this a different way. You've seen a lot of duels right?"

"Yeah."

"You've seen a lot of people duel."

"Yeah."

"Seen differences?"

"What do you...?" Harry bit his lip. He didn't want to get yelled at again. "Yeah, there are differences."

"What differences? Specifically?"

"Well... It's like... you kind of have... This is hard. Can I explain it how I see in in my own head?"

"Of course."

"You have kind of three types." Harry gestured vaguely. "There are the standard duelers, they throw stunners and hexes, lots of shield charms too, and they seem to mostly come out of the Hogwarts defense classes. Not that that makes them bad. Some are really good, but they all seem to use this one style. This one set of spells."

"Hmm... and the next type?"

"Death eaters. They aren't all even very good at fighting. But they use curses. Unforgivables and stuff. And that makes up for the lack of skill."

"And the last type?"

"The masters." Harry shook his head. "I watched some duels on video while I was traveling. Thought I could pick up some tips. Most of the duelists were group-ones, but some of them... the best ones... they're not even in the same league. They move like they're weapons. They don't chuck stunners around, most of the time I couldn't even recognize the spells they were using. It wasn't dueling like I'd ever seen. Except maybe when I saw you fight Tom Riddle, right here. That's the difference I guess. That's the difference between duelists."

"Harry, you are absolutely right." Michelson was smiling broadly. "What you just said is exactly right."

"Um... so? I'm still not seeing how that's connected to anything."

"You've grasped one of the central concepts of dueling. One of the things that make people group threes. The learning curve is huge, there's a point when you just become beyond everyone else. When you stop dueling with dueling spells and start dueling with everything. Do you know what the other difference is?"

"No."

"It's that we all have tricks." Michelson winked. "All the group threes. Some trick that makes us better, something that separates us from each other and from the ones and twos."

"A... trick?"

"Look at Dumbledore, he uses transfiguration. By the end of a fight with Dumbledore you're not just fighting him, you're fighting the walls, doors, ceiling and floor. Plus anything else he can twist into a moving, thinking weapon against you. Voldemort? Well he uses dark magic, plain and simple. You've already realized that that gives a person power beyond your skill. And he already has plenty of skill. Me? I use foreign spells, spells my enemies have never heard of. The last words of a surprising number of my opponents was _'What the hell is that?'_"

Harry chuckled, but Markus wasn't finished.

"Dee Finsbury, the current world champion duelist is also a champion _illusionist_. Your own Professor Flitwick dueled for England, you think he threw around stunners? And you? Well you can do charms. Right?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Yes."

"Say it."

"Yes I can do charms."

"Good. Then use them." Markus turned to go back to his mark. "And get up off the floor."

I'm on the floor? Harry looked around. Oh yeah, he was. Harry pushed himself to his feet with renewed vigor. He gripped his wand and turned towards his teacher. Use charms? Well he would give it a shot. What should he use? Michelson appeared to be just waiting to see what he would do. Well, he'd have to do something...

"_Engorgio!_" Harry aimed, not at Markus, but at the flagstones and saw his teacher stumble as the rock puffed up like a muffin. "_Reducto!_" Harry blew the stone to smithereens.

Markus righted himself easily and flicked his wand. Harry blanched as a gigantic fireball was sent rocketing towards him. Harry swallowed, time for risks.

"_Ardor-Algidus!_" Harry yelled and stood his ground as the inferno passed over him. He caught a glimpse of Markus' shocked face as he emerged unscathed on the other side before he aimed and fired. "_Confringo! Ferio! Stubefy!_" The surprise attack forced the teacher onto the defensive, shielding desperately. A moment later he brought up a shining silver sphere. Harry's spells bounded off like pins off a frying pan, sending echoes all over the vast chamber. Michelson looked out appreciatively from the safety of the sphere.

"What was that Pipsqueak?"

"Flame freezing charm." Harry smiled proudly. "Nullified your fireball."

"Nicely done." Michelson nodded. "Try... this!"

"Bugger!" Harry dived for cover as the shadows erupted with movement. Giant leathery movement. Harry dashed behind a pillar as the bats flung themselves through the air towards him. They were huge, wings at least a meter wide, with huge fangs. "_Incendio!_" Harry waved a fiery swath through the bats but more just materialized to replace them.

"_Jupitall!_"

Harry dived out of the way as a spinning orb of plasma burnt through the air where he'd been. Michelson wasn't going easy on him just because he was busy with the bats. He couldn't dodge forever, if he didn't clear the air he was dead.

"_Depulso!_" Harry yelled desperately, but the bat's were too strong and Harry had to throw himself against the wall to avoid another thrown spell from his opponent. He needed a charm... what charm? Wait! Bats were like, sort of giant hornets... really. "_Tempesto!_"

Harry called a wall of wind and threw it against the leathery creatures, swatting them out of the sky and crashing them into the far wall of the chamber. Michelson didn't give him any respite though and responded with a punishing waterfall that appeared out of nowhere above Harry. Harry felt a stab of old terror, but the fear only made him think faster.

"_Arefacio!_" The drought charm banished the waterfall before it even touched him. "_Accio!_" Michelson was forced to bring his silver shield back up as a hundred bat corpses funneled past him.

"_Depulso!_" Harry flicked his wand, spinning the ball of bodies back away from him and bowled it back to break against the Professors shield sphere. Harry wasn't going to let up now. "_Diffindo!_" The spell scratched against the shield to no effect, screeching like a violin. "_Reducto!_" Michelson wasn't even knocked backwards as shield once again absorbed the spell with a brassy note. Harry gripped his wand angrily, nothing he had could break this sodding silver shield.

Wait... maybe he didn't have to!

"_Motus!_" Harry aimed squarely at the center of the silver ball and twisted. It vibrated like a bell and filled the chamber with ringing. Harry twisted further and the sound intensified. Inside his bubble Michelson clutched his ears. Harry found the resonance and twisted harder, the sound outside the shield was deafening, inside it must have been excruciating. Markus threw his arm out violently and Harry had to fling himself sideways as the screaming shield cannonballed past him. "_Ferio!_" Harry threw a hex at the staggering Michelson that he just caught with a counter. Harry kept up the onslaught in a rush of glee! He was winning!

"_KhaNDana!_"

The bolt came from nowhere. Slicing out of the dark too fast for him to react. Harry was thrown to the ground, electric sparks raging down every artery and turning him into a screaming battery of pain. Harry felt his wand torn from his unresisting hand and at last managed to blank is mind to the pain. He waited in the dark for it to recede. When he at last opened his eyes Michelson was staring down at him. The huge wizard put his wand to first one ear then the other, muttering something, then whipped away the blood that had ran from both of them with a sleeve.

"Good." He said, unusually loudly. "Again."


	37. Changeling Child: 3

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 3: Traps

Severus Snape landed lightly on the scrubland and looked about him. This would have been a monumentally desolate place if not for the distant lights of a muggle road in the valley far below. Snape walked over to the gathering of black cloaked figures standing near the edge of the cliff. Snape counted faces, Barty Crouch was still absent. What was the task that man had been set? It disturbed Snape greatly that he did not know. It made him wonder if perhaps others of the dark figures did, if perhaps he was missing something.

One figure was apart from the others, right at the edge. The figure stood with his back to them, his long robes streaming out to the side in the harsh night wind. He seemed to be looking down at the road, and at the further lights of a town.

Like a falcon, Snape realized, or a waiting hawk. Sitting and surveying it's prey before swooping down and clutching one up in its talons. The wand in the watcher's hand twitched as if thinking of raining fire and pain down on those beneath him. The twitch subsided. Thank god.

"Severus." The dark lord turned at last from the cliff. "You have come at last. I was forced to wait. I dislike waiting."

"My apologies Lord." Snape bowed deeply. "I could not arouse suspicion about why I was going. I was forced to sacrifice speed for safety. I am sorry."

"And where were you." Voldemort continued, his voice terrifyingly light. "Were you at Hogwarts?"

"No my Lord." The very fact that he asked the question meant he knew that Snape had left. Which was very, very bad. What lie could pass? "There was an order meeting."

"Was anything discussed? Anything I should be made aware of?"

"No my lord. They continue to guard the department of mysteries, Dumbledore still fears to move. Nothing has changed."

"Well," The dark lord smiled thinly. "That at least is good news."

He does not know where I was. Snape kept his face perfectly unemotional. He suspects... he _strongly_ suspects but he does not know. He values me, he values me as a spy in the order. That is why I am still alive, because on the of-chance that I have not betrayed him I am valuable. He will kill me. He will kill me soon but until then I must remain a spy. I am valuable.

"I notice Mr Crouch is still absent." Snape tried to sound uninterested. "Perhaps he has been captured. We may have to rescue him. _Again._"

He expected a chuckle from the death eaters. None of them liked Crouch. Instead there was silence.

"Dear Barty is none of your concern." The dark lord replied, in the conversational tone that was so much worse than anger. "His task is going well. Is yours Severus?"

"Alas no master. I apologize." Snape hung his head. "I am afraid there is simply no way to adapt polyjuice potion to allow a human to become non-human."

"I dislike failure Severus."

"Master if you asked me to jump off this cliff and try to fly I would do so." Snape tried to sound contrite. "But I doubt I would be successful. Some things are not possible."

"For you perhaps." The dark lord was smiling slyly. "But no matter. You may cease your experimentation. The potion is not necessary any more."

"Yes master." Is it not necessary or do you just not trust me to brew it any more?

"On to the meeting, we began without you Severus. I hope you don't mind." The dark lord turned back towards the cliff and Snape had to strain to hear him over the wind. "We were discussing an assassination."

"Who is the target? Perhaps I could brew a poison or some form of-"

"No." The dark lord cut him off. "Not poison. I intend her death to be more graphic than that. An example."

"She?" Swirling horror rose in Snape's stomach.

"A prominent figure in the department of mysteries." Voldemort half turned back towards Snape. "A Miss Natalie Zhao. Do you know her?"

"Yes." No god no. "She is an order member."

"I know. You informed me of that yourself."

"I did my lord." I begged her not to make me tell him. She said it wouldn't matter. Nothing connected them. "If I may ask, why have you decided she must die."

"She is the daughter of a squib, in a prominent position in the ministry. A travesty."

"I agree my lord. But, why her?" Snape momentarily considered just attacking Voldemort, but it would do no good. He'd die and Natalie would die anyway. "There are many other people equally worthy of death."

"Your lord has decided she should die is that not enough for you Severus?" The dark lord smiled from the depths of his soulless, piercing eyes. "Does her death... trouble you?"

"Of course not my lord. She is the child of bad blood, of course she must be killed." Snape bowed and stepped backward. "I will make certain that Dumbledore and the other order members at Hogwarts are distracted."

"That will not be necessary Severus. We have already cut all communication to Mrs Zhao's residence. I have also deployed dementors to intercept any messages sent by patronus. No messages can reach her. From anyone."

"Most prudent my lord." Snape nodded, furiously trying to churn his brain and find some solution to the problem. He could not think, it was as if gruesome tendrils and fibrous black vines were choking his usually perfect mental machinery. There must be some way to get a message to her, there had to be!

"Severus?" Voldemort questioned lightly. "Will you be at Hogwarts this evening?"

"Yes my lord."

"All night? No errands to run?" The dark lord's mouth quirked. "No midnight strolls?"

"No my lord."

"Good." Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Because I shall know Severus. I shall know."

Snape walked calmly along the long path to the great doors of Hogwarts using all the force of will he had not to break into a run. The watchers were no doubt already in place, at the edge of the forest beyond the wards. As were the attackers probably, in his mind he could already see them apparating into the dark streets around Natalie's flat. He ached to run but couldn't. It was agony, caught in chains that didn't even exist. An anchor in his mind.

He reached the doorway and stepped through it. He pushed it closed calmly, then turned and ran.

He reached Dumbledore's staircase and yelled the password. He sure as hell wasn't waiting for the staircase this time.

"_Acellelero!_" Snape clung to the central pillar as the staircase rocketed upwards and came to a screeching halt at the top. Snape threw the door open, startling the Headmaster.

"Severus? What is the meaning of this-"

"I need the order!" Snape snapped. "We need to mobilize now!"

"Severus calm down. You will need to explain."

Snape growled and choked out a curt explanation of what had happened. At the end Dumbledore dropped down into his seat and shook his head.

"We cannot, help her. He has outmaneuvered us again I fear."

"Not if we move now!"

"To move confirms his suspicions of you. And it would do no good. The people watching you no doubt have orders to kill you if you try to leave. No message can reach her. Yes, yes he had truly outmaneuvered us."

"I can take Fawkes." Snape argued. "I can leave without a trace. Warn her, then-"

"You cannot take Fawkes. The methods phoenix's use to travel can be detected by those who know how. Voldemort knows how."

"I cannot just sit idly by while she is killed!"

"Which is exactly what Voldemort expects." Dumbledore said angrily. "Surely you see that this was directed at you! Bait to force you to reveal your true allegiance. It is a test, if you fail we lose our spy. If you pass however you will be his most trusted servant."

"Passing means the death of Natalie!"

"Not necessarily." Dumbledore was obviously trying to be soothing. "She is an accomplished fighter. She could escape or-"

"She will be outnumbered ten to one."

"Think of how many people your information saved in the last war. Countless lives."

"Some lives are worth more to me than others."

"Well not to me." Dumbledore stood and stared down the potions master. "The best you can do for her is to make sure you are seen _here_. Go and pick herbs from one of the outside plots, go and get some unicorn hair from Hagrid. Anything that lets them see you here. That is all you can do. If you try to leave they will kill you. Then they will kill her. You can do nothing."

Snape scrunched up his eyes. The old man was right.

Natalie Zhao turned the page idly on the report she was reading and yawned. There was too much to do. She flicked it closed and clicked the lights out before rolling over and dropping the folder onto her bedside table. Perhaps all the problems would just magically have gone away when she got up tomorrow. It was unlikely though.

Natalie burrowed deeper into her pillow and closed her eyes. The world was falling apart, not even dreams could provide respite for long.

A floorboard creaking.

Natalie's eyes flickered open in a moment. Was it just her neighbor downstairs? She reached for her wand and silently checked her wards. She hissed as she realized they were in tatters and rolled off the bed. Her hand moved towards the light switch then thought better of it, it might let them know they had seen her. She slid towards her bedroom door and looked out through the keyhole just as the door at the other end of the corridor was pushed open slowly. Revealing a robed figure.

Natalie slid back silently. She tried to apparate away, not really expecting it to work. No, they had a ward up. They would have blocked the flue as well. The only way she was getting out was through the front door, which meant through them.

They would check the rooms along the hall first, she perhaps had a minute.

Drum Lemon had never pretended to be an intelligent man, just a useful one. He was useful say, when someone hadn't paid their debts in time and action needed to be taken. He had been locked up for being useful in the wrong place at the wrong time, set free eventually, become useful again and caught again. This time for being so useful towards a ministry hit-wizard that the man was no use to anyone anymore.

He had been locked up for good. Until the dark lord had given him a second chance. A chance to rejoin society again, to be useful again. He was only half blood but he had just enough brains to never mention that to anyone. When the dark lord had explained what needed to be done to this bint he had stepped forward instantly. It was right up his alley, he might even earn the mark if he succeeded. Then he'd really be set.

He touched the door lock with his thumb. Warded, what else? He turned and pointed into the rabble behind him at a hunched figure, then pointed back at the door. The man shuffled forward, he had been a damn good curse breaker until he was caught skimming a cut off the top. He was just lucky the ministry caught him before the goblins did.

Drum waited in silence as the tiny man clicked and hummed in front of the door. A few minutes later the curse breaker pushed the door open. Drum stepped into the flat and looked around professionally. It was set out fairly regular. Kitchen that way... empty. Drum waved two guys towards the back room and ignored it. This place was like a catalogue, everything was in its place except for the books and papers strewn across the coffee table. Well, that and the three aquariums near the back. Not full of water. Some sort of reptile. Some sort of incense in the air, some new age garbage.

Drum shrugged, not an issue. The bedroom would either be at the end of the second door down on the left. That was how these buildings were built. Drum stepped down the corridor and pushed the door on the left open. Boxes. Down the hall then. He looked behind him, the other criminals were hanging back. Pathetic. The dark lord had grabbed everyone who would stand up straight with no regard for experience. Not that he was criticizing, at least he would get full credit for the kill.

Drum breathed in deeply. Smelled like vanilla, it was very strong. Someone had once told him that smell was the strongest trigger for memory. He certainly remembered that muggle girl every time he smelled cut grass. Perhaps from now on vanilla would echo in his head, reminding him of Natalie Zhao. The woman who made him the favored assassin of the dark lord.

He made his way towards the last door. He raised his wand, fumbled it and caught it again. He shook his head. Had to stay focused. He reached the door and pushed it open. Darkness, he stepped up to the bed. He hadn't used the killing curse before, but he had no doubt he could make it work. He raised his wand, aiming at the lump in the covers. His wand was shaking, he grabbed it with both hands. What was wrong with him? Drum shook his head, the wand was still shaking.

Oh... no, no, no...

Drum stepped backwards and tripped over his own robes. He looked back towards the door. It was closed. Did he close it?

"You didn't close it." Drum looked up, his eyes already drooping. The girl was standing there, arms crossed.

"Doped us." Drum mumbled through numb lips. "Incense...Vanilla..."

"How many more of you are there?" The girl demanded.

Won't tell you you bitch.

"Twenty?"

What!

"Where are there?"

Ice cold bitch queen.

"Five in the flat, five in the stairwell. The rest outside." She almost seemed to be talking to herself. "And dememtors flying everywhere."

"You won't get out?" Drum managed to get out. "We've surrounded you. Your fumes may have got me... the other five in here. Won't get the rest. You'll never get out." The girl raised her wand.

"I can try."

Natalie stunned the swarthy wizard and pushed his body in front of the door. How long before the others checked on him?

The door handle rattled. That long.

Natalie put herself right in front of the door. If she was lucky...

_Confringo!_ She said the spell silently and angled her wand sharply down. The door exploded outwards, the force of the explosion channeled down the hallway. She saw three bodies flying away from her and dashed out after them.

"_Cruci-_"

Natalie whirled on the caster. No time for spells, she found his eyes, pushed in like a dagger and found the off switch in his brain. He folded like a puppet with the strings cut. She heard a shout behind her and _protegoed_ so harshly that the round edges of her shield forced the walls out like crumpling paper. She turned and saw the hooded man dodging his own spell and threw her own, striking him in the chest.

That was the ones in the flat done.

She rushed to the door but it had been torn off its hinges. A dark figure reared from the stairwell. Natalie had her wand up in a moment but before she could cast the man grabbed his chest and fell to the floor. Natalie crept close, blood on his chest. Someone had hit him with a puncture curse.

She threw herself to the side. They must have been shooting from the other buildings outside. Aiming blind through the curtains. Aiming at her. Well that put climbing out the window out of the picture. She crouched and made her way towards the stairwell. She glanced between the slats and pulled her head back as a green flash obliterated the wooden banisters where she had been.

Time to start surprising them.

Natalie aimed at out into the middle of the stairway. A flicker of her wand and a ball of glowing light appeared. Another flick and a spiraling spear of sparks shot down the stairs like a rogue firework. She twisted and the ball dropped slowly, like a balloon, spitting exploding spears in every direction and shrinking as it fell.

That should keep them busy.

She dashed down the stairs and took out another thug as he desperately tried to dodge the multi-fire. Natalie had to jump over a man lying prone on the second floor, a victim of the fireworks. A spell shattered the tiles near her shoulder and she threw up a shield against the next one. Where were they coming from?

Damnit! Two above her, one below. They must have hid in the side corridors. She aimed her wand up at the two firers and vanished the floor under them. One of them dropped like a stone, the other was fast enough to grab the edge of the hole. But that just made him an easy target to get picked off. Natalie spun to take out the guy below her but he was already down. Blood on him, and pooling on the floor. Another victim of the cackshots outside.

There were still ten men outside. Natalie reached the ground floor and took a deep breath. They would be spread out all around her building to stop her escaping. What was her best bet to survive? The back entrance? It led onto an alley, easy for them to block or watch. The front was no doubt a deathtrap, she'd be hit from every side before she got two steps. There was a ground floor window out into the car park... wizards tended to ignore cars. She didn't have one but surely some combination of spells could convince one to start. It was her best shot.

Natalie can down a side corridor and found the window, she peered out. No one visible, but they could be hidden among the cars. She slid the window open and climbed out uncomfortably, breathing hard. Strangely her paper pushing desk job didn't keep her in very good shape. She fell down between two cars and turned towards one of them. She was about to charm the lock when she felt a shadow fall on her.

"Got you missy." Natalie froze. The voice was twisted and slick, like oil. "Turn round so I can see your pretty face."

Bad idea. Natalie turned and looked up into the pockmarked face above her. Into his eyes... He fell with a heavy, rag-doll thump and Natalie grabbed his wand.

"Ere what was that?"

Footsteps! Natalie crept back to the wall and got between it and the car just before the footsteps stopped.

"She's 'ere! She got Poxx!"

Natalie heard more running feet and tried to slink away along the edge of the wall. She reached the corner, no where to go. If she tried to make for the exit they'd see her for sure. She pushed at the apparation ward again but it was no good. They had extended it beyond the building itself. How far would they have pulled it? To cover the whole block would have been impossible. Could she just run for the edge?

They were searching the lot. They were getting closer. Natalie looked up under the nearest car. At least five pairs of feet within easy sight. The entrance was close, she might make it. With a distraction.

She looked carefully out over the back of the car and aimed her wand at a blue car at the other end of the lot. It didn't have to be much, just enough to get their attention. She said the spell silently. The car's alarm sounded like a klaxon in the night air.

"What the bloody 'ell is that!"

Natalie stood and ran. They were looking the other way, she could make it. She blazed out of the car park and made for the end of the street, all the while pushing against the apparation barrier. A spell pin-wheeled over her head and she sprinted harder. It had to end soon. She heard shouting and running behind her. Please let it end soon. A chunk of the road was blown away, throwing her to the floor. No... She desperately threw herself against the ward as footsteps surrounded her. It wouldn't budge, she knew it wouldn't.

"Now missy turn round nice and slow." She rolled over and tried to meet the man standing in front of her's eyes. "Nah, don't try any of that." He broke eye contact and started openly staring at her chest.

"You've led us lads a merry chase." He continued, and there was a rising chuckle from the cluster of wizards surrounding her. "Me and the lads worked hard. I recon we deserve a reward."

"I assume your lord will provide that." Natalie said, her eyes desperately flicking around for a way out.

"I was thinking you might." The front man sneered and the others drew in closer. Natalie could see the greed of years in prison flickering bright in their eyes. "Actually I was thinking you're gonna. Seeing as you don't have a ch... ch... aa...oh." The man raised his hand to his mouth, there was a trickle of blood coming out of the corner. His eyebrows knitted in confusion as he fell to the floor. His fellows stared at him. After a silent moment one of them stepped forward and knelt down next to him. The man reached out and touched the fallen criminals back.

"It's blood. He's dead. He- Aaa!" The neck of the kneeling man exploded, showering them with blood. The criminals jumped back in shock. Natalie grabbed her wand and threw herself backwards, rolling as she hit the ground. She had stunned one of the wizards while they were still in shock and had turned her wand on another when her mystery savior revealed himself. She had to give it to him, he knew how to make an entrance.

He dropped from the top of another building, his robe billowing behind him as he fell straight into the middle of the wizards. He landed on one of them and rolled, a dark shape in his hand coming up. Another criminal was thrown back and landed wetly on the floor. The warrior looked up at her but she couldn't catch his face in the dark. He nodded to her. She nodded back, and they turned on the rest of the bastards.

It was the strangest fight Natalie had ever been involved in. Strange for it's silence. Whatever weapon the strange man was using it made no sound as it fired and she tended to cast non verbally. The criminals yelled their spells but they were in such disarray they were mostly throwing desperate stunners at each other. Other than those there was only the sound of footsteps, rapid-fire like a dance, and the occasional spray of blood. A silent battle at midnight, underneath stuttering streetlamps. Natalie's breath was hot in her ears by the time it was over. She turned to her savior, he was dumping what was now obviously a _silenciod_ handgun in his bag.

"Who are you?" Natalie demanded. "Did Dumbledore send you?"

"Most assuredly not." The figure said cheerily and turned towards her. "Miss Zhao, I do believe we've already been introduced."

"Ha...Harry?"

"Yep." The young boy's eyes wandered south and he glanced away. "Um you're going to have to have a change of wardrobe if you want to have any kind of intelligent conversation."

"Why?"

"Well, long story short you're still wearing a nightgown and the ground you were just rolling around on is quite damp."

"Oh." Natalie felt the blush rising in her cheeks as she conjured a robe. "Better?"

"Worse." Harry hung his head. "Now I can't see anything."

Carting bodies up to her flat had been a surreal experience. She had healed the ones that could be healed before stunning them into a coma. In the end they had two piles, sixteen alive and four dead. She didn't doubt that without wizard medicine the count would have been a lot higher.

And here she was, sitting by her coffee table staring at lined up, stunned, criminals who ten minutes ago had been trying to kill her, drinking tea with the boy-who-lived.

"Do you have any biscuits?"

"What?"

"I missed dinner."

"Oh... yes. In that cupboard." Natalie pointed and the black robed boy grabbed them before coming back and sitting beside her on the couch. She looked over at him. He looked older than when she had last seen him. Much older. "You saved my life."

"Don't worry about it." Harry shrugged. "The biscuits more than make up for it."

"You shot them." Natalie's thought's were still a little disjointed and she was trying to fill in the pieces. "With a gun."

"Spells would have warned Voldemort I was there." Harry shrugged. "By now I bet they have someone watching the underage magic detector. I tried to shoot their arms mostly." He added almost to himself.

Natalie decided not to comment, instead she asked.

"How did you even know to come here?"

"Oh, that." Harry turned to her. "I happened to overhear something while I was eavesdropping."

Natalie listened in shock as Harry briefly explained a conversation that had apparently taken place between Severus and Dumbledore earlier that evening. Poor Severus, she could just see him now. Pacing his office, unable to do anything. Hating himself even though it wasn't his fault. He always did.

"How did you even get out of the castle?" She asked.

"Easy, snuck into the forest." Harry shrugged. "The people that got sent to watch Snape were all, big surprise, watching Snape. Meaning I could slip by undetected. After that I dashed for the wall, climbed it easy, the ward doesn't keep in humans. Legged it to Hogsmeade and broke into a cottage to use the flue. I didn't want anyone to know I'd gone through there, that was why I didn't use one of the pubs."

Natalie didn't speak as Harry finished his story. She looked over at the pile of criminals, then back at Harry. Her brain, unencumbered by worry, was making the calculations that Snape hadn't been able to.

"Dumbledore was right."

"What?"

"This was a test." Natalie nodded slowly. "And Snape can still pass."

"Are you thinking..." Harry glanced at the pile. "Are you thinking of taking a page out of my book?"

"Yes Harry. I'm going to die." Natalie smiled. "The assassination will be a success. Too bad the aurors came and arrested everyone afterwards, but Snape still passes the test."

"Snape passes and you can hole up at chez Malfoy. One problem, They'll remember the truth." Harry pointed out, jabbing a thumb towards the criminals. "Voldemort'll find a way to get it out of them. Even in custody."

"I'll call an old friend." Natalie stepped into her kitchen and picked the phone off the counter. "Goldie will be able to help with that."

"Voldemort's good at Legillimancy."

"I know that Harry." Natalie pulled out her address book and started flicking through. "But my friend's good too. He's a ministry obliviator, the best."

"Wait a minute..." Harry's brow furrowed. "You're phone is working?"

"Of course."

"So why did I just break out of school and travel the length of the country to save you?" Harry threw his hands up. "Couldn't Snape have just called you?"

"Harry Snape may be using a pen now, but he's still a wizard to his toes." Natalie smiled fondly. "I checked."

"Eew!" Harry cringed back. "Mental image! All wrong!"

"Revenge." Natalie grinned, then found the file card she was looking for and grew serious. "Listen Harry you should go back. I can handle things from here, and it'll be easier to explain to Goldie without you here."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Natalie nodded and Harry turned to leave. "Harry!" She stopped him as he reached the door.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Just doing my job." Harry shrugged. "Apparently."

"And Happy Halloween."

"Halloween?" Harry glanced over at the clock, seeing that it was after twelve. "Oh yeah, Happy Halloween."

Harry didn't try to reenter Hogwarts that night. Too much risk of being seen by one of the watchers. Instead he dozed on a bench and slipped back in around sunrise. He attended breakfast purely to procure coffee in large amounts and managed to get through his first few lessons somehow. During lunch break he dragged his sleepy form down to the dungeons and found the right office. He pushed the door open without knocking.

"What is the meaning of thi... Potter." Snape deflated, his face going soft. "Natalie told me. I cannot begin to thank you-"

"You're going to teach me occlumency." Harry interrupted. "And Legillimancy." There was a pause. Then,

"I suppose I am."

"And you're going to tell me everything you know about Barty Crouch."

As soon as Harry's feet touched the floor he knew it was a dream. Before him the cottage at Godrics Hollow rose above his head. Looking so... normal. Nothing to speak to it's momentous importance. It could have been any one of thousands of houses, there were others that could be its twin dotted down the street. Nothing special, and yet it _repelled_ him.

Harry felt his skin crawl. The house was... wrong... somehow. Harry turned and dashed down the street, passing trees and hedges. He dashed with no care and caught his foot on a paving stone, sending him sprawling to the floor. As he got to his feet he felt grass under his feet. He was back on the front lawn. The cottage was right in front of him.

He could hear the river in his ears, raging in the distance. Harry scratched at his skin, it was all wrong. Harry felt nausea grow in the pit of his stomach. Oh wait... that wasn't part of the dream.

Harry slammed his eyes open and dropped out of bed, rushing for the bathroom.

"Harry?" Ron knocked on the toilet door. "Harry are you ok?"

"I'm fine." Came the muffled reply.

"You don't sound fine. You sound-"

"I said I'm fine." Harry jerked the door open, the black bags under his eyes even more visible than usual against his green and sickly skin.

"You don't look fine."

"Probably something I ate." Harry shook his head and pushed past Ron.

"Harry everyone in Gryffindor eats the same stuff and no one else is-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Harry whirled on his Ron. "I was sick. For some reason. Some unknown and unimportant reason. I threw up. I feel better. We should go to breakfast."

"Breakfast is over." Ron shrugged. "We let you sleep through it. The girls should be bringing some leftovers when we go to creatures."

"Well then let's go to creatures. I'm hungry." Harry threw his bag over his shoulder and made for the door, his head drooping.

Ron followed slowly. Harry was slowly getting worse, sick. Was it just lack of sleep doing this to Harry? He hadn't looked this bad even when he'd been time jumping. This time he seemed physically ill. Ron shucked his bag up further on his back. They all needed a little more sleep, Harry had been pushing them hard.

More sleep, and more bruise-remover.

Ginny looked up as Harry pushed the door to the attic open.

"Charms finished early?" Harry asked as the marauders trouped in behind him.

"I already knew the lesson." Ginny flicked her book closed. "It was summoning charms."

"You can already summon an elephant." Harry dropped his bag on the table. "Skip the next few lessons."

"The rest of us can't get away with skipping lessons Harry." Hermione said from behind Harry. "Some of us aren't the boy-who-lived. Some of us-"

"Some of us realize the pointlessness of being taught what we already know." Harry stepped into the middle of the attic. "Alright, this time everyone except Draco. All of the marauders."

"Harry are you sure?" Fred asked. "You weren't feeling so hot this morning."

"I'm sure, I'm fine. Nothing a little exercise won't cure." Harry shed his robe as the marauders drew into a circle around him. Ginny could see Malfoy settling down to watch, like it was a bloody show.

"Ready." Padma called out.

"Don't ask me if I'm ready. Never ask me if I'm ready. Never warn me just bloody hit me."

"_Stubefy!_" Ginny threw out her wand but Harry was already moving, sliding under her shot like a snake. His wand came up towards her. She shielded, Harry flicked to the side and Neville went down in a flash of red light.

The twins jumped forward like mirrors of each other but a shining beam clicked between them and slammed them together like conkers. Harry whirled like a dancer and a veil of smoke surrounded him. The marauders began firing into the cloud, careful not to hit each other as the stunners flew out the other side. The marauders slowed and eventually stopped.

"Do you think we got him?" Ron asked shakily.

"Should have counted the stunners." Padma muttered. "Did anyone see if one didn't come out?"

Padma's question was answered as her wand was jerked out of her hand and flew into the blackness. An array of stunners followed it. All came back out.

"Screw this." Ginny waved her wand. "_Depulso smoke._" The black cloud flew away and dissipated into the dusty air. Revealing nothing. The floor was empty.

"Where the hell is-" Ginny felt a weight strike her shoulders and a stabbing pain. As she collapsed she saw boots flash in front of her face and red light flashing all around. Her shoulder was like a burning knife.

"HOLD!" Someone yelled. "I said hold!"

The flashing lights stopped and she felt strong hands rolling her over carefully. Malfoy's face came into view, staring at her shoulder.

"It's dislocated." He said softly. "I mean really dislocated, look at it."

Ginny looked over at her shoulder and had to look away, her eyes squeezed shut. Her arm was hanging like a piece of meat, hanging off her shoulder. The marauders began crowding around. Ginny found Harry's eyes, he was unreadable. As always. His eyes didn't emote, didn't give anything away. They just looked like... eyes.

"Let me." Hermione pushed Draco aside and rolled up Ginny's sleeve. She shook her head. "I can't fix this. We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey." Hermione reached forward.

"No." Draco shook his head. "Two marauders, one injured, leads back to Harry. I'll take her. We can pass it off as an inter-house thing." Draco put his arm under her good shoulder and lifted her gently, carrying her away.

"What the hell was that?!" Padma whirled on Harry. "You broke her shoulder."

"Yes." Harry idly woke Neville from his spell induced stupor. "And if she was a death eater I'd have broken his shoulder."

"Ginny's not a death eater!" Ron yelled angrily.

"Really? You sure? We could check her wrist." Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know what your mother would be more angry about, the hate crimes or the tattoo!"

"This isn't funny Harry!" George growled.

"No it's not!" Harry yelled. "It's bloody serious! Bloody, raging, burning SERIOUS! I KNOW THAT! Do you? Do you know that?"

"You could have really hurt her." Parvati said softly.

"I have really hurt her." Harry said harshly. "I've had broken bones. It hurts. It hurts a lot. It also hurts a lot less than what would happen if a death eater caught her."

"So it was for her own good was it?" Ron raged. "You were, what? Helping her!"

"Yes! I was!" Harry kicked a chair against the wall angrily. "I'm helping _everyone!_ Why doesn't everyone get that! Why are the majority of the people I'm trying to save doing their best to _screw with me!_"

The marauders jumped back. The shadows in the attic made Harry's face a freakish mask. He was shaking like a leaf, breathing hard.

"Why are people doing this." He shook his head, his hands going to his temples. "Even people who know what we have to do are trying to stop us. Even people who know. Why the hell would they do that?"

"Harry..." Hermione reached forward.

"It's fine." Harry straightened like a rod. "I'm fine. We can fit another duel in before the end of lunch."

"You, you want to go right back into a fight?" Hermione asked, her voice incredulous. "No Harry. No, we're all tired. We can't."

"I can. You can. Get over here." Harry threw Padma's wand to her. It bounced off her stomach. She made no effort to catch it.

"I'm tired." Padma said flatly. "I'm going to lessons."

"Come on!" Harry clapped like some insane sports coach. "We can do another round."

"I don't wanna do this with you Harry." Ron said angrily. "This isn't fun anymore."

"THIS WAS NEVER FUN!"

"Harry what do you want!" Hermione yelled. "We don't have to do what you say! We don't have to obey orders like you seem to think! Make up your mind Harry, are we your friends or are we your... your army!"

"You giving me the choice." Harry stepped up right into Hermione's face. "You giving me _that_ choice. I have a dark wizard after me that I'm fated to fight. I have the greatest, no scratch that, the _two_ greatest wizards in the world hating me. One trying to kill me. One trying to keep me a prisoner. I have _everything_ against me. So I choose a bloody army. 'Cos I need a bloody army. And if you can't be that then to hell with you."

Harry turned, and disappeared out the door.

The nexus of the marauders was gone. Without that, they were hollow.

They went to lessons, walked, went to meals. But Harry was never with them. He still attended lectures to keep the teachers off his back, but every other moment seemed to be spent in that attic. Plus wherever he snuck out to at night.

Draco was with him sometimes, walking silently behind him along the corridor. Visible bruising made it clear that he hadn't stopped helping Harry. Ginny caught him alone one morning and confronted him.

"Why are you still helping Harry?" She asked bluntly.

"Because he's my friend." Was the curt and dry response.

"He's killing himself with all this." Ginny pleaded, looking into Draco's eyes. At least there was some emotion there, even if it mostly seemed to be regret. "You realize that don't you? You're not helping him survive. You're helping him self destruct."

"With anyone else I'd agree with you." Draco looked away. "But here we know what's coming. You know. There's no way we can keep him out of Voldemort's path. There's no keeping him safe you understand, the prophecy ensures that. He will face Voldemort. He will fight him. So a little self destruction now is worth it if he survives that encounter. Wouldn't you say Ginerva?"

"Don't turn this on me." Ginny shook her head. "And don't try to make what you're doing any kind of noble. It's not."

"Of course I'm noble. I'm a Malfoy." Draco hung his head, then looked up to meet her eyes. Regret was back, regret was definitely back. "Look Ginerva I know everything you're saying is true. But I don't know how else to help him. I don't how to help him at all. Do you?"

"I... no."

"Too bad." Draco shook his head. "I guess all we can hope for is that he kills Voldemort before he kills himself."

And outside Hogwarts the wizarding world slowly fell to pieces. As Christmas crawled closer and the nights grew longer there was no joy among the magical peoples. It just meant there were more dark hours for the death eaters to hunt in. One night a dark mark was raised right in the middle of Manchester. The authorities passed it off as a hot air balloon. The ones in the country didn't have to be explained away, the ministry just had to clean up after. When they even bothered to do that.

Contrary to popular belief the darkest hour is not before dawn. It's in the middle of the bloody night.

Harry closed the prophet with a heavy sigh and dropped it on the ground beside him. Things were only getting worse out there. The order wasn't doing anything, big surprise there. Barty Crouch was still missing from death eater meetings, apparently with Voldemort's full support. The dark creatures? No one knew a thing about them.

No one seemed to know anything.

Harry stretched his legs out and felt the ripples of the lake against his bare skin, sending back ripples of goosebumps to match. Not all to do with the cold. It was good though. He should make sure he could manage water if he had to. Might have to fight in it one day.

"A dark state of affairs."

Harry tensed as the voice came from behind him and spun, wand outstretched. There was a figure standing there, looking out over the water. He looked old, seventy maybe. Bald definitely, and not a hair in his little neat mustache was anything other than white. He looked like a retired teacher more than anything else, one of the old school ones. He even had the patched tweed jacket.

Oh god was that a pipe in his pocket?

This guy was a walking cliché? What was he going to do next? Offer me tea?

"Would you like a spot of tea?"

"Oh come on." Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Three things: One, I don't drink tea. I drink coffee, in large quantities. Two: You don't have any tea. Three: Even if you had a flask I wouldn't be able to drink it." Harry reached out and waved his hand directly through the old mans leg. It passed through without even a tingle.

"Very good Mr Potter." The old man sat down cross legged next to him. "How could you tell?"

"There are certain signs." And I'm certainly not telling him them. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is James." Harry stiffened at those words. The old man laughed. "No not _that_ James. Honestly Mr Potter there are more people called James in this world than your father."

"Probably not your real name anyway." Harry snorted.

"I've never seen a need to conceal my first name. One of the benefits of having a nice traditional name like James or John or Harry." James smiled and took a little puff on his pipe. "Of course if you wish to know my last name we shall have a problem."

"I don't give a crap what your last name is." Harry shrugged. "How are you doing this? Some sort of illusion?"

"Astral Projection." James said professionally. "It's really quite useful."

"I've read about it." Harry crossed his arms and stared calculatingly at the man next to him. "It requires extensive preparation and a circle of at least three wizards. What you came to tell me is worth all that?"

"Very good Mr Pott-"

"Stop saying that." Harry cut him off. "Just speak your piece."

"Very well." James reached into his jacket. Harry instinctively flinched despite the fact that any weapon this man pulled would go straight through him. "Do you know a man named Conterrando Baker?"

"Is he from the ministry of silly names?"

"How droll." James pulled a piece of paper from his jacket and held it out for Harry to see. Harry grabbed a piece of parchment out of his bag to jot down the address then took a little more time reading the rest of the profile.

"Half blood, respected member of the Wizengamot, respecter writer, married to a muggle, outspoken critic of the current minister. Two kids at Hogwarts. His last book was a love story, between a pure blood and a muggle." Harry laughed wryly. "Jesus, did someone just take a big piece of play-doh and mould it into a target for the death eaters?"

"It is a small miracle he has not been attacked yet."

"But you think he is being targeted now?"

"I know he is." James tapped a date on the paper. "Tomorrow night."

"Oh come on."

"He has been repeated warned but he refused to accept a protective detail. He says it would impinge on his privacy. Foolish And he will die for it. A beloved family man is going to die if you don't save him."

"Bull. You save him. You obviously have resources."

"I, or more accurately the group I represent. Do have the resources." James smiled. Harry didn't like that smile, it had weird depths. James continued, "Our organization also dislikes Voldemort. He is troublesome to our work. But unfortunately for Mr Baker, Voldemort is only an irritation to us therefore it is not worth enough to us to save him. We do not move in the same circles as Voldemort you see, so he does not give us too much trouble. We would prefer if he were gone though. It would make things easier."

"So help him."

"We cannot." James stood. "But you can. Go help him Harry Potter. If it turns out well, we may meet again." With that he disappeared into thin air.

"Show off." Harry murmured.

Of course he realized it could be a trap. In fact it almost certainly was a trap. Harry considered. Except that Conterrando Baker was a real person. The story, after a little checking of back prophet issues, checked out. Harry even found the kids in Ginny's year. Hufflepuffs, twins, nice in a kind of boring Hufflepuff kind of way. Both members of the gobstones club. Both with significantly less ridiculous names than their father.

Good kids. Good father too...

"Bugger." Harry dropped the prophet on the table. "I'm going to have to do something heroic aren't I."

Looks that way.

"Do I have to?"

Well... no, you could let him die while you sit back and eat popcorn.

"Don't like popcorn."

Well I guess that decides it then. Plus it would be rather a waste of all the training you've been doing.

"It could still be a trap you know."

I know that. Don't you think I know that? I'm your brain you moron.

"We're a bit crazy aren't we?"

Crazy like a fox.

"Like a fox."

So it came to pass that Harry slid down into the chamber of secrets that night wearing the most singularly un-heroic piece of clothing in history.

A pair of waders.

"Bloody winter." Harry shivered as he crawled through the tiny crack in the wall through which he had entered the chamber all those years ago. It was smaller than he remembered.

Harry dropped into the icy sewer and made his way quickly along the dark passageway. The water was bitingly cold on his hands whenever they got splashed but the thick waders kept his legs pleasantly warm. Thank merlin for dragon-skin fishing supplies.

Of course this would be easier if Dumbledore hadn't strengthened the Hogwarts wards to the point where not even insects could pass through. This was the only way out.

Harry's passage through the catacombs was unerring. Last time he'd been here he'd wandered aimlessly, lost. Little lost boy... But he wasn't the same person he'd been then. Harry sighed and walked on through the darkness to his destination.

Harry flicked his collar up and walked quickly down the street. This was London, but not a part that he had ever frequented. Big houses, big expensive houses. Places that didn't take kindly to vagrants. Probably still wouldn't take kindly to him if he was found here.

House twenty six. Harry slowed to a stop a block away from the tall white building. In the middle of the terraced-row of equally tall white buildings. Expensive they might be, individual they were not.

All the lights seemed to be off. Mr Baker was probably asleep. No one outside, no one obvious anyway.

Hello...

Up on the roof. Darkness made into flatness made into nightmares. Someone was waiting up there, trying to stay invisible against the skyline.

Harry cursed then darted down an alley. Movement in the front yard, it might have been a discarded newspaper. Then again it might not.

Human shape! Second floor, standing near the bed! Harry's hands found a drainpipe and he catapulted himself up. There were two more on the bed, cowering in fear. The standing figure raised his wand. Harry swung with all his strength and crashed through the window.

"What the hell!"

Harry tackled the death eater to the floor and stunned him. He rushed to the door and bolted it, pushing a chair under the handle. The others would have heard the window break.

"Who are you!" A voice bellowed from the bed. "Are you with them?"

"Do you know Dumbledore?" Harry asked quickly, looking over at the two in the bed.

"Ye... yes. Everyone knows-"

"Good go to him. Get out through the back." Harry pointed at the broken window. The door thumped violently and Harry turned back towards it. Three others. Not good. "GO!"

"What about you?" Mrs Baker asked as her husband hurried her towards the window.

"Don't worry about me. Just go!" Harry flicked a ward onto the door, strengthened it. But it wouldn't hold long. These weren't criminals, these were actual death eaters. Duelist group twos. Bugger. Harry glanced back at the window to see Mr Baker just disappearing out of it. Well at least that was done. Harry turned back to the door and raised his wand.

The first real test. Lets see how I do.

I really hope one of them is Crouch... Harry grinned in violent glee.

The houses windows flashed from where he sat on the rooftops. Whoever that boy was he was fighting them. Fighting them everywhere. There were two people fleeing down the backstreet, visible in the gaps between houses. They didn't matter.

His knarrled fingers clenched. It looked like the boy had beat him to these ones. He wouldn't be able to kill tonight. Wouldn't be able to hurt them, make them pay. Make the other one, the snake one, the one who took everything pay.

He licked his lips. Another time, there would be other times. He was patient. Patient was good, so long as it got there in the end.

The end... the end...

Vengeance. That was a good word.

The watcher hunkered down on the rooftops. Before him the battle raged on and cries of pain filled the air.

He would wait, and if there were any stragglers? Maybe he would have some fun after all.

"Wake up!"

Urg... Ron turned over on instinct to get away from the noise.

"Get the hell up Weasley!"

"Ow!" Ron grabbed his side and spun, his eyes wide open. "Malfoy what the-"

"Have you seen Harry?" The Slytherin demanded.

"What? Of course not. He's your best friend now." Ron replied sneering.

"He didn't turn up for dueling this morning." Malfoy sounded like he was actually worried. The snake was obviously acting. "I thought maybe he would be here."

"Well he's not." Ron gestured around. "Look the bed's not even slept in. And how'd you get the password anyway?"

"Something's wrong."

"Get lost Malfoy." Ron looked over at the clock. "It's six o clock in the morning!"

"Right. Two hours past when Harry said he'd meet me." Malfoy was gritting his teeth, breathing through them clenched.

"He's probably in the attic."

"That was where I was waiting you idiot!"

"Then he's eating breakfast!"

"Checked there."

"Library."

"Checked."

"Down by the lake?"

"Checked."

"The forest? Around the edge-"

"Checked."

"Oh." Ron bit his lip. "He's probably, I don't know. Probably training late and just passed out tired. Even you had to notice he was tired."

"Surprised you did." Malfoy turned for the door. "Get your friends and help look."

"We're not your frie-"

"But you were Harry's!" Malfoy turned angrily. "And he could be in trouble, or pain, or _dying,_ right now! I know you don't like him any more but unless you hate him enough to wish him dead get the hell up and help me look!"

Ron woke the marauders. The marauders roused the students. Myrtle called the ghosts. Hermione ran to McGonagall. McGonagall went to Dumbledore.

The entire castle like an anthill kicked into turmoil by the departure of the boy-who-lived.

It was Dumbledore who confirmed, by 'his own methods', that Harry was not in the castle. The great hall was filled with tangible tension as breakfast appeared as if it was any other day. Everyone was whispering.

Why bother, thought Ginny. It's not like you're trying to hide what you're talking about. But she found that when she talked it also came out as whispers. It was the tense atmosphere, it leeched sound out of you. Or maybe it was because saying it right out would make it real.

The marauders mostly picked at their food. No one felt like eating. Not even Ron. Suddenly the door burst open.

"It's him!" Hagrid boomed over the barking of his dog. "He's out there!"

The hall emptied like a fire had started. Every student of every house piled through the giant double doors. Jostling and pushing against each other, and against teachers, to get through. They spilled out onto the front lawn like a wave, breaking and separating. Everyone was running for the main gate. Ginny saw Hagrid, out in front, yell something and the gate creaked open. Everyone pushed through, trying to get a glimpse of the solitary figure trudging up the path towards them.

The front runners stopped and were almost bowled over as the people behind them ran into their backs. The road down from the gates was slanted, so everyone could see. See the figure that was definitely Harry.

His robes hung off one shoulder, the rest torn and trailing behind him. The whole left side of his face was covered in blood, down onto his shoulders too, caked on and streaked. One of his boots was gone, Merlin only knew where. His left arm had an ugly burn over the elbow, red and raw and black in the middle.

The entire of Hogwarts stared at him. Harry raised his head painfully.

"Well... would..." Harry swallowed and licked his lips. "Would you believe I fell down some stairs?"

"Mr Potter where were you?"

You know where.

"Tell me!"

He knows where. Of course he does. Stupid Dumbledore.

"Were you at the Baker residence Harry?"

There we are.

"How did you leave school grounds?"

You don't need to know that.

"Harry answer me!"

"What do you want from me Dumbledore?" Harry pushed a blood-entangled dreadlock of hair out of his face. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want the truth!" Dumbledore was yelling, every portrait on the walls of his office watched in silence. Apart from them the room was empty. "I want you to tell me where you went! Where you go every night! I want answers!"

"I don't give a damn what you want."

Rather incongruent seeing as we just asked him.

"Harry if there is a breach in the wards of Hogwarts I need to know about it."

Damn. He might actually be right. Voldemort sure as hell knew about the chamber.

"Chamber of secrets." Harry met the Headmasters gaze but gave nothing away. His occlumency was getting better too. "Remember? There's a passage that lets out on the side of the lake."

"The... a passage." Dumbledore nodded faintly. "Yes... yes I knew about it."

"But it slipped your mind when you were shoring up the wards."

"I... no-"

"You're not a god Dumbledore." Harry broke in. "You can't do everything. You are incapable. You make mistakes. It doesn't have to be this way between us, admit you made a mistake with regards to me. I can help you fight. Help the order."

"You are not of age."

"Screw that!" Harry yelled wildly. "There's two people living tonight because of _me!_ Two kids who are not orphaned because of me!"

"There are also five dead death eaters."

What... the... hell...

"Stunned." Harry corrected hopefully. "Stunned death eaters."

"Dead." Dumbledore's face grew stony. "Killed with an mysterious toxin. Seen only once before."

No... no no no no.

"Dumbledore-"

"Stop!" The Headmaster cut him off. "You have already demonstrated a bloodlust that disturbs normal, decent wizards."

"When I need to!" Harry was breathing hard. "When my friends lives are at stake!"

"You are out of control Harry."

"I didn't kill them." Harry held up his hands. "I didn't, I swear. I stunned them, then left, then called the aurors to pick them up."

"I cannot believe that Harry, I cannot. Not with all I know."

"Legilimence me." Harry released his defenses. "You'll see. You'll know."

"I will not know. I will not know because I cannot be sure that you have not reached a level of proficiency at occlumency where you could show me whatever fabricated memory you wish to."

"THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT!"

"Anger Harry? You have a lot of anger don't you."

Yes. Harry hung his head tiredly. There is no answer to your questions. Nothing that will satisfy you.

"You will stay confined to the castle." Dumbledore ordered. "You will attend all lessons. A guardian appointed by me will walk you to and from each lesson. You will do these things or I will hand you to the aurors."

"I didn't do it." Harry whispered, more to himself than anything else.

"I cannot take that risk."

Wait! The Prophecy!

"The prophecy." Harry blurted. "What are we going to-"

"Stop thinking about such things." Dumbledore cut him off. "They are no longer your concern."

"But I have to stop Voldemort. I'm the only one who can."

"This discussion is over Harry. Leave."

Harry stood. There was no point drawing it out. He walked towards the door, but didn't go through it. He felt drained, completely. But some residual well of stubbornness wouldn't let him leave without one last word.

"You're making a mistake." Harry said over his shoulder. "You do make them remember."

"I do. But I correct them." Dumbledore said sharply, but sadly. "I am correcting one right now."

Damn. He still got the last word.

Harry turned and passed out of the office. There were important decisions to be made.

"Deja vu." A voice said over Ron's shoulder.

"Malfoy!" Ron spun on his bench. "Do you just sneak around everywhere?"

"Hard to sneak in the middle of lunch." Malfoy seemed agitated. "Harry's gone again."

"Like this morning?" Hermione asked.

"He said he was going to go to sleep, but his bag's gone." As Malfoy spoke they heard a noise from the high table.

Dumbledore had just shoved his chair back roughly and strode quickly from the hall.

"He knows about-" Ron began but stopped as a feathered shadow dropped onto the table.

Digger cocked his head and hopped about a little nervously. He kept looking at first one face then another as if he didn't know who to deliver his message too.

Ginny reached forward and took it off her. She spread it out on the table. It was short, but it had a lot of subtext. It simply said.

_Take care of him_


	38. Changeling Child: 4

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 4: Crystallization

"Is there no news?"

"No Albus, there is not." Minerva shook her head. "He appears to have vanished."

"Has a watch been set on the borders? All ways that he could leave the country?"

"Yes Albus." As if that had ever stopped Harry. "But do you really think he will try to leave? Everything we've seen suggests he will stay and fight."

"I do not know Minerva." Albus shook his head. "I am not sure of anything anymore."

"Stay strong Albus. The order needs you."

"Yes... yes we must go on."

The marauders, bundled up against the cold, sat quietly before a huge bay window in Malfoy manor. They had gone there straight from Hogwarts, with a guard the entire way. They were in the minority for leaving, a lot of students had elected to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. It was safer. They were not the only ones there though, Terry and Anne Baker (none of the marauders had really known them) had been dragged along looking confused.

That was until they reached the house and had a tearful reunion with their parents. Apparently someone had saved them from the death eaters. Emphasis on _someone_.

The manor was filling up, loads of people. Refugees almost, people that had been targeted or were in danger of being. It was scary, seeing the fear in their eyes, the feeling of being hunted. The marauders were the same, unable to leave, scanning the papers for any hint of Harry. They found nothing but they kept looking. Guilt was a powerful thing.

So now they were stuck in the mansion, unable to leave its walls as snow blanketed everything outside. Even if they could have gone outside would they have had the heart to play? Maybe, maybe not. So they sat in front of the huge open window and watched it fall.

The adults had tried to make it cheery, there was even a tree. It hadn't worked though.

"We should go have lunch." Someone murmured. No one moved. Eventually someone else echoed the sentiment and they began to get up, slowly, silently. They had just about reached the kitchen when Tonks burst in.

"Have you heard the news?" She blurted.

"We read the prophet-" Hermione began before Tonks interrupted her.

"No, no. This just happened." She shook her head. "Two death eaters just got dropped into the ministry foyer. Flued in. They were stunned and tied up with ribbons. They're processing them now. Where's everyone else?"

"Most of the adults eat in the tree room." Ginny pointed and Tonks hurried out.

"Do you think it was Harry?" Neville asked quietly.

"Of course it was Harry." Malfoy said flatly.

"It could have been someone else, someone else trying to stop them."

"Someone who tied them up like presents and dumped them Christmas eve? It's Harry." Padma grimaced. "He's out there fighting."

"On his own." Her sister echoed.

They sat in silence for a while. The only sound was Ron rhythmically munching on bread.

"Do you think it was us?" Ginny found herself whispering. "Do you think we drove him out?"

"You certainly didn't help." Draco sneered.

"Shut up Malfoy! You were the one helping him!" Ron reached over and tried to thump the Slytherin. "If you hadn't he wouldn't have thought he could fight them!"

"He was getting help from other places than me. Someone else I'm sure, he was getting better too fast." Malfoy shook his head. "No, I withdraw what I said before. You didn't push him towards this. This was inevitable."

But we abandoned him. Ginny thought darkly. Maybe if he would have stayed longer if he thought he had something to stay for. Or at the very least he'd know he wasn't alone. Merlin, how had things gone so wrong?

"It's my fault." Hermione murmured suddenly. "I said that... stupid thing about choosing between-"

"It wasn't you." Ron broke in. "You heard Malfoy, it was inevitable."

"We need to do something." Parvati said. "Bring him back. Tell him it's ok."

"How?" Draco shook his head. "Take out a personal ad in the Prophet?"

"Well why not?"

"Because it's ridiculous. And because all it would do is assuage your guilt. It wouldn't help him."

"Well what would help him!" Fred asked angrily.

"I don't know!" Draco shot to his feet. "Why are you asking me anyway? I don't even like you." He turned and stalked out of the room. Ginny watched him go. She'd never thought about it before but Harry leaving had probably hit him pretty hard too. He didn't really have any other friends. Maybe that had been why he helped Harry for so long.

"We need to do something." Parvati repeated again.

"What sister? What?" Padma frowned at her sister darkly. "Don't just keep saying '_do something_' and expect everyone else to come up with something."

"I don't hear you coming up with anything!"

"There's nothing we can do!"

They lapsed into an angry silence again. There was too much stress, too little sleep. They were all at the end of their tethers. Just like Harry had been. Ginny shook her head, they should have gone easier on him. A little selfish part of her felt glad that she had not been part of that first argument with him. Another part blamed her for starting it. If she had just dodged he wouldn't have hurt her shoulder and then they wouldn't have...

It was pointless to think about it. The argument had happened, but a little part of her still irked. They shouldn't have blown up on him, so what if he said he chose an army... Wait... Was it possible? Was she really thinking about this?

"I can think of something we can do." She said, her voice catching in the middle. It hadn't done that in years.

"What Gin?" Fred asked without looking at her.

No one was looking at her. No one was paying attention. Marauder rules...

"HEY!" The table jumped as Ginny slammed down on it hard. The marauders started like rabbits. Oh great, now everyone was looking at her. She stood, keeping her hands flat to the table. "I know what we can do."

"Wh... what?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Exactly what he asked." Ginny said confidently. "He wanted an army. He needs an army. He's fighting out there on his own so he _deserves_ an army! We can be it. We can help him!"

For a few moments there was silence, then...

"But... but we're just kids." Neville was biting his lip.

"We're as old as Harry." Ginny stated defiantly, glossing over the fact that she wasn't.

"We don't know how to fight like him." Ron was staring at her wildly.

"Harry learnt, so we can." Ginny folded her arms. "Harry wasn't even that good at defense and look how far he's come. We can do it."

"We could..." Fred murmured, and is twin began nodding thoughtfully.

"There are only eight of us." Hermione pointed out.

" I think other people in the school would be prepared to help Harry if we told them. The old chosen... others too." Ginny tried to look confident. "And besides, Harry's just one person!"

"But Harry's Harry!" Hermione shook her head. "He could get away with that sort of thing! He has some... ability... some reason he survived. A power! That's it! Like the prophecy said. '_A power the dark lord knows not' we-_"

"The only power Harry ever displayed was stubbornness." Padma interrupted her. "Stubbornness and bravery."

"And the fact that he never gave up." Her sister added.

"And we shouldn't either." Padma nodded.

"So you..." Ginny turned to them grinning.

"We're in." Padma said, her eyes hard and determined. Her sister nodded her support.

"Us too." George folded his arms just as his brother said,

"We can't give up on Harry."

"And you three?" Ginny turned to the last three undecided marauders. Neville shifted nervously,

"I... It could have been me." He was looking down at the table. "It could have been me. I wouldn't have survived this long. No... but I can't just ignore it. The fact that it could have been me I mean. I... I feel like I have to help if I can."

"You're in?"

"I don't know how much help I'll be."

"You saved me." Ginny smiled desperately. All the marauders had to join, it was like fate. For some reason she felt like that. If they all didn't join it just wouldn't work. "And Harry would have wanted it."

"He understood you." Padma chimed in, smiling. "More than the rest of us I think."

"I'll help, if I can." Neville said, in a small voice. Ginny breathed out in relief, one down two to go...

"And you two?"

Hermione and Ron shared a look. Ginny knew she could tease her brother into it, Ron was a sponge for peer pressure, but she wouldn't. Not a choice like this.

"We'll have to miss some lessons." Ron said suddenly and Hermione put a hand over her mouth, chuckling. "Think you can handle that Hermione?"

"I guess so." Hermione turned back to Ginny. "For Harry."

"You're in?" Yes, yes, yes! "Both of you?"

"We're in."

"Us too." A voice came out of nowhere. Ginny spun and fixed on the large double doors. Standing in the open crack were two brown haired children. Terry and Anne Baker. They had been listening in, eavesdropping. And they had managed to do it undetected. Wow, Ginny thought. They've already got what it takes to be a marauder.

"What?" Ron stood, clearly unable to see them properly from where he was. "You two?"

"We heard what you were saying." Anne said, obviously trying to sound older. Ginny wondered if she had looked like that a few moments ago. "We want to help too."

"Harry saved our parents." Terry added in. "The ministry didn't even know they were a target. We want to help."

"You realize what this means don't you?" Ginny said clearly. "We're talking about fighting. Fighting death eaters. Maybe dying, almost certainly getting hurt. This isn't going to be fun."

"We know that." Terry nodded. "You think we don't know? We saw Harry when he came back that morning just like the rest of you. That's the kind of stuff you're talking about right? Well that night he was out saving our parents. Saving them was what hurt him so bad, so its... like I don't know. Only fair, I guess, that we should do that for him."

"You could die." Padma said flatly.

"If Voldemort wins we die anyway." Anne matched her flatness. "With parents like ours we'll be on the top of his list."

"We know what were getting ourselves into." Terry said defiantly. "We want to join Harry's army."

"Harry's army?" George snorted. "Is that what we're calling ourselves?"

"I don't like it." His twin agreed.

"It does sounds like something from world-war-two." Hermione agreed.

"How about the chosen? We've been that before." Ron suggested.

"We're the marauders." Ginny overrode him. "We've always been the marauders we always will be. It's what Harry would have wanted."

A murmur of agreement went up from around the table and Ginny felt a surge of pride. She beckoned the Baker twins over. As she did she suddenly realized something, she had made everybody look at her and they were still looking. Her brothers had happily accepted her lead, they all had. And now she was about to ordain two new marauders, a privilege only previously granted by Harry.

What can of worms had she opened today?

"But wait." Padma said suddenly. "How are we going to train properly? Harry had a teacher, he had to. Where are we going to get one?"

"I can think of someone."

"Draco!"

Draco turned in shock to look at the crowd in the library doorway.

"Yes?" He looked across them. "Can I help you?"

"We've decided what we're going to do." Ginerva said from the front. "We're forming an army. We're going to fight for Harry. We want your help."

The library was silent for a moment. Draco met the eyes of each of the marauders, were they really serious? Legillimancy gave him the answer.

"Well would you look at that." Draco murmured, then smiled. "Lets get to it."

"You realize this means the marauders now have members in every Hogwarts house." George commented as they walked down to Harry's old training cellar.

"We don't have any Ravenclaws." Ron said. Hermione shook her head irritably.

"You would think you'd remember Ron, after all the times she's saved our skins."

"Who?"

"Moaning Myrtle."

"She doesn't count." Ron said with authority before being clipped around the ear by Ginny.

"Watch your mouth. Harry wouldn't stand for that sort of talk."

"Besides, you're all wrong anyway." Draco said dryly from the front. "Harry made myself and Tonks marauders at the end of last year. You've been cross-house for months now."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron asked him.

"Would it have made a difference?"

"Well... maybe." Ron shrugged. "Marauders have different rules than ordinary people."

"Yeah, that part I got." Malfoy reached the door to the cellar and threw it open. It was exactly how they had left it. Huge piles of broken furniture and burn marks on the walls. "Right, well we don't have impact spheres or a _siswai'aman_ or muggle gonnes-"

"Guns." Hermione corrected.

"Them either." Draco stepped into the center of the room. "Actually I do have some impact spheres but that's not the point. We don't have time to go to four continents and pick up the best weaponry like Harry did, so I'm going to focus on this..." Malfoy drew his wand and held it out in front of him.

"Terry, Anne." Ginny turned to the two newest members. "How are you at defense class?"

"We're both getting Es." Anne said quickly.

"Marauders should know how to lie better than that."

"Alright As."

"Same as Harry last year." Ginny told them encouragingly. "Hermione? Can you bring them up to speed real quick?"

"I... I guess so."

"Good." Ginny turned back to Draco and nodded. He smiled at her as he directed the others into dueling lines. Her stomach did a little floaty lurch.

Just stress. She told herself. Just stress because we're joining a war. Natural to be nervous, especially since they seem to have elected me leader. I'm not nervous for any other reason. No reason _at all._

Neville collapsed into a chair in his room. He ached everywhere. Malfoy had pushed them all day, fighting. They had only quit for the night when the Baker kids couldn't stand up any more. Neville hadn't been far behind them.

This must have been what it was like for Harry.

Neville shook his head, earlier Padma had told him Harry understood him. Neville didn't know whether that was true. He certainly didn't understand Harry. But maybe he watched him more than the others, keeping quiet on the sidelines maybe he saw more. Saw more about people... about Harry.

Maybe there was one other thing they could do for Harry.

He had thought of it before but hadn't mentioned it. No reason to tell `people, especially if he was wrong. It'd just make him look stupid. It probably wouldn't help anyway. But it was worth a shot.

Neville drew a piece of paper towards him and grabbed a quill. He chewed on the end nervously, how did you start a message like this?

_Dear..._ No, to familiar. Neville shook his head, it didn't matter what words he used. He should just get the thing written. He cracked his tired knuckles and started again.

_To The Pythea_

My name is Neville Longbottom and I'm a friend of Harry's. I don't know if he told you about me.

Neville winced, this was harder than he thought.

_Harry's in trouble, or he might be. He's left Hogwarts to fight. We're worried about him. We're worried he might die. I don't know if you know about the Pr..._

Neville stopped writing and thought for a moment. The letter might get intercepted by someone.

_If the phrase 'as the seventh month dies' means anything to you then you know why he's doing this. I don't know if you can help him but if you can then please do, and tell us what we can do to help. We're already doing everything we can but it may not be enough._

Neville read the letter over nervously. He was writing to ask the help of one of the most powerful women in the world. He signed it, his hand shaking enough to make the signature illegible, then squeaked his chair back and made for the owlery.

Digger was awake and waiting, like he knew. The owl didn't even bother to look at the address, it just glanced at the name and took off. Neville watched it go, hoping...

He got no reply over Christmas. The marauders opened presents with aching bones while their parents watched before begging out and going back down to the cellar. Neville was surprised that the Baker children didn't complain about being worked on Christmas day. Perhaps they really did understand what they were in for.

Snow kept falling intermittently, not enough to cover the ground again. It just ended up slush. Neville wondered if Harry was outside, cold, right now, then felt stupid. If Harry could get weird dark weaponry out of the blue then he could keep warm in winter.

"Neville!" He heard Fred yell at him. "I thought we were dueling not staring out the window."

"I'm coming." Neville turned and raised his wand. "Just a second."

We're doing what we can Harry, just you wait.

Harry crouched on the roof of a house, careful not to slip on the wet tile. The house across the way was owned by a prominent member of a pure blood family. Not his main house obviously, pokey little place like this, but one of his properties.

A property with a large cellar. A property that had been taking in large supplies of meat, bad meat too. Off cuts, the kind you would give animals.

It was a lead. Harry smiled grimly, he was on to them. He could wait here all night...

"Severus the children at headquarters keep disappearing during the day. Do you know where they're going?

"I do not Albus." Technically true though any sensible person could guess.

"Do you think they might be planning to follow Harry?"

"It is possible." I hope they are.

"This troubles be Severus, they should be kept safe."

"They are children." Technically true though not actually revealing his opinion.

"You will tell me if you hear anything I should know."

"Of course." Anything _I think_ you should know.

"Now," Dumbledore looked around the hall, meeting the eyes of the four order member. Snape, McGonagall, Tonks and Moody. They had all been asked here. None of them knew why. "I believe I have found Harry."

"Are you sure?" Minerva rose to her feet, shock evident on her face. "How?"

"Harry has been too trusting of Gringots." Dumbledore drew a thin folder of parchments towards him. "He forgets that they have human employees as well as goblin ones. I have managed to obtain records of Harry's transactions. I believe I have pinpointed his location."

"So why haven't you brought the poor boy back?"

"Because Harry will have an exit strategy." Dumbledore shook his head. "If he sees me he will run, and I cannot guarantee I will be able to catch him. You are the order members I believe he will trust. You must approach him. You must bring him back."

And what if I don't wish him back. Snape was careful to shield his thought utterly. What if I merely wish to make sure he's safe.

"This is the location." Dumbledore floated a sheet of parchment to each of them. "We will go. Now."

Snape looked up at the flickering bulb above him and scornfully flicked it off before lighting his wand.

"The top floor?" The auror Tonks was looking at the map drawn by Dumbledore. "Why would he be on the top floor? It's a dead end. No way out."

"The boy's smarter than that." Alastor agreed as the four of them reached the stairwell of the muggle building. It was not vacant, indeed Snape could hear muffled voices and clicking from adjacent rooms, but the top floor was closed for renovation.

"Perhaps Dumbledore was wrong then." Was that a hint of hope in the voice of the young auror?

"More likely Harry has a broomstick up there." Minerva snapped.

Harry would not have a broomstick. Snape shook his head but said nothing out loud. He is more likely to have a pet dragon up there than a broomstick.

"Quiet." Moody was up ahead, his magic eye scanning above them. The old auror cursed. "Damn evil eye! There's bags up there, and papers. But I can't tell if there's a person."

"Let me see." Minerva slinked into her cat form and carefully padded up the steps. Then came back down, her eyes twinkling. She transformed back and said, "Harry has been here. His smell is everywhere."

"Do you know if he is there now?" Snape asked.

"He is there. The scent is too recent for him not to be."

"Then we go in." Moody stalked forward. "No wands visible, don't spook him."

They walked up the bleak concrete stairs. The door was closed and covered by a plastic sheet. Snape was reaching out to cut it aside when they all heard,

"Don't bother, I've cut a slit in the one round the side." The four order members stopped dead. The voice continued. "And if you want a more dramatic statement, you are Moody, Snape, McGonagall and Tonks."

"Harry?" Tonks asked loudly. "Is that you?"

"Did I not make that clear?" The voice said cheerily. "Come in if you want. With your hands up if you please, we don't want any surprises."

"You don't trust us?" Tonks asked.

"Constant vigilance." Harry replied.

Snape chuckled as he dropped his wand in his pocket and walked around the corner. There indeed was a break in the plastic curtain, it was waving in the cold wind. Snape stepped up to the gap and pushed it aside. Harry was standing in the open bay window, leaning easily against the edge.

He looked... tired. Beyond tired, his eyes were sunken and his skin pale. Did he look worse than when he left Hogwarts? Yes. He most certainly did, there was no denying. It could not just be tiredness, it could not. He seemed happier though, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Harry." Snape greeted him as the other order members filed in behind him. "It is good to see you. You are looking well."

"No I'm not." Harry was watching them all closely. "But I'm surviving. How did you find me?"

"I'm afraid we can't-"

"Gringots led us here." Snape interrupted McGonagall, who glared at him. "Dumbledore found you here with their information. He sent us here to bring you back."

"And are you going to?"

"We just want to talk to you Harry." McGonagall stepped forward, her hands spread peacefully. "It is not safe for you out here."

"It's not safe anywhere." Harry shrugged. "And I'm helping out here. I'm fighting the death eaters. What are you doing? Looking for a lost child? Let me ask you, which of us is doing the more useful task?"

"Potter don't be an idiot." Moody growled. "You may have caught a few death eaters but it's only a matter of time before you're caught and you better pray it's by Dumbledore and not the dark lord. If you die we all lose."

"If I fail we all lose." Harry shifted closer to the window.

"Harry, we're just trying to help you." Tonks stepped forward. "We all know what's at stake here."

"This scene is recap." Harry scoffed. "I'm leaving." He turned to the window and dropped.

"No!" McGonagall yelled, snatching for her wand but Moody was faster. The old auror summoned Harry roughly, drawing him across the floor and disarmed him with a flick of the wrist.

"Son of a bitch." Harry tried to stand but Moody jabbed his wand and Harry was pushed back to the ground. "Trusted you..."

"Sorry Potter." Moody growled. "Trusted you too. You pissed on that when you killed five men didn't need to be killed."

"That's not true."

"The part about killing them or the part about not needing to?"

"To be honest, both." Harry made a lunge for the door but McGonagall stepped in front of him. Harry cringed, then tried to stand. "This is pointless. If you bring me back to Hogwarts Dumbledore'll keep me prisoner, we all lose."

"I trust Dumbledore more than I trust you right now." Moody raised his wand. "You disappointed me. Now _Stup-_"

"Stop!" Snape struck sideways, sending Moody's wand sideways. As the auror's eyes jerked open in shock Snape stunned him and whirled, holding his wand on McGonagall. "Don't move Minerva. In fact back away."

"Severus what is this?" Her eyes were wide in disbelief.

"Please don't talk." Snape glanced at Tonks standing twitchily in the corner, her hand hovering over her wand. "And you? Do I need to stun you too?"

"I... no." The young auror's eyes flickered down to Harry. "Take care of yourself Harry. Please. Please do."

"I'll try." Harry nodded, walking over and grabbing his wand. "And I won't use Gringots any more." The boy started for the window.

"Harry!" Snape called out. "Moody caught you. You let your guard down. You have to be better than that."

"I know. I screwed up. Constant Vigilance." Harry nodded towards Moody. "You should tell him that too when he wakes up."

"He will probably kill me first." Snape shrugged.

"Not likely." Harry stepped up the edge. "He'll probably trust you now."

Harry grinned and dropped off the edge.

Snape waited a long moment, long enough for Harry to reach the ground, then lowered his wand. McGonagall just looked at him. No student with late homework had endured so withering a stare.

"Well Severus, now that you have betrayed the order, what do you intend to do now?"

"I will go back to Dumbledore." Snape stepped over to wake up Moody. "And I will try to explain."

The auror blinked to life and grabbed his wand. He levered himself to his feet and looked Snape up and down with his piercing electric blue eye.

"Well well, your true colors at last." Moody spat.

"Trelawney once told me my color was pale fuchsia." Snape commented as he made for the door. "If I'm showing that color you may want to get your eye checked."

"My eye's fine."

"Good, then I'll meet you at Headquarters." Snape apparated away, the cold pressing abyss of void giving him a moment of peace before he dropped to his feet in front of the doors. Three pops behind him told him the other order members had followed.

"Don't do that again you slime." Moody growled, wand out. "If you try to apparate again I'll assume you're trying to escape."

Snape took three steps, into the grand hall.

"There." Snape raised his hands. "Now I can't escape."

"I don't trust you." Moody shook his head. "Give me your wand."

"No." Snape turned towards the main hall and walked calmly. Surprisingly he felt calm, he was comfortable. He was sick of being Dumbledore's lapdog, and now he had finally acted on it.

He pushed the double doors open and found something he didn't expect. The whole order was there, lining the walls. Dumbledore had called a meeting, to discuss Harry being back. Snape stopped, his arms crossed and the three following him walked past into the room. Tonks was still quiet, fading into the crowd, her hair unconsciously turning mute brown. Moody and Minerva walked straight up to the head of the table.

"You failed to catch Harry?" Dumbledore clearly suspected something. He was using the stare that used to pierce Snape to the soul, now it just made his eyes itch. "What went wrong Severus?"

"I decided that greater good could be served by letting him free." Severus stood calm against the angry muttering that rose at that. He found Natalie's eyes in the crowd,

_Why?_

I am tired of leashes.

You aren't finished are you. It wasn't a question.

_I am not. I mean Dumbledore to know I am no longer... tame._

Well this should be fun.

Snape couldn't help but smile.

"You think this is funny Severus!" Dumbledore had stood, his eyes flinty and hard.

"Yes."

"How dare you!"

How dare I? Snape snorted, this was the way things should be. He felt more comfortable with everything against him.

"Snape this time you have gone too far."

Oh good, if you're going to be this predictable this will go far easier. Snape just smiled.

"Do you have nothing to say!"

"No. I have nothing to say." Snape kept his voice irritatingly cool "The only explanation I have you will not accept. And I cannot formulate one you will because you I do not know what you want."

"I want someone I can trust!"

"No you do not. You trust no one. You never have. Not with any secret worth knowing. You are a closed system, no one is told anything." Snape glanced around the office at the other order members, practically everyone was there. Everyone there to witness his humiliation, that was what Dumbledore wanted anyway. If Snape had his way it wasn't going to happen like that. "None of these people know anything do they."

"I am speak-"

"You'd think that would bother them." Snape continued. "You'd think one of them would worry about you."

"Be silent!"

"Each of them thought another had your ear. Minerva thought Lupin, Lupin thought Moody perhaps. I don't know who Moody thought. But none of them did, none of them know."

"Silence!"

"No man is an island." Snape smiled, after all these years he knew how to get to the old man. "No man is an island unless he makes himself so."

"Severus I will not listen to-"

"You will listen. You can't not." Snape shook his head. "Something has frozen you. That is what you do isn't it? You _shrink_, like a turtle. Back into your shell."

"And what is my shell?" Dumbledore growled with uncontained rage and frustration.

"Your past. Your reputation." Snape sniffed. "The last war, your _glory days_. Ha ha... you have retreated into repetition and now? Now you are paralyzed by it. We are not fighting this war, we are reliving it."

"You have made it clear what you think about-"

"Shut up." Dead silence. Snape folded his arms, grinning faintly. Behaving like Harry was fun. "I am talking now and you will listen. You are paralyzed by something. Guilt I would guess. I don't know of course, no one knows, but I would... well... _safely assume_ that it is guilt. Everyone is motivated by something, we each have something that makes us... tick. You have guilt, great swirling pools of it. In every pore of you, in every facet of your mind. It's been there since the first time I ever saw you, I didn't recognize it then of course, but it was there. By the time I came to work for you I was old enough to recognize it. Something in your past, in your present too, fills you with a festering remorse. And it just gets worse and worse, makes you doubt yourself, makes you think you are never worthy. Makes you turn down the position of minister for magic. Over and over again. I know what made you like this, you think I would work for you and not investigate your past. You know I am more careful than that. You must have known that I knew. You must have known that I had found out about Kendra."

Dumbledore froze, every tendon tensed. Snape breathed a sigh of relief in his mind. He had not known for sure, not until that moment. He still didn't know really, not what had happened in that room. That secret would probably be taken to the graves of the men concerned. No matter, Snape could gloss over the details.

"It was there in the first war." Snape continued, his harsh voice the only sound in the packed hall. "Back then it was... helpful. It made you careful. It made you weak but... it made you careful. I do not understand what has happened since then, perhaps it is as Harry says and you are simply senile, but it is worse now Previously guilt made you careful, sensible. Now it makes you useless. Useless and _broken_. You are no longer the famous Albus Dumbledore, you are a fractured version of him."

"No."

"Something destroyed you."

"Stop."

"I don't know what it was."

"Please."

"It must have been something terrible." Snape smiled slyly, letting his words sink in. Weakening. "Whatever could it have been? You don't have another sister..."

"SILENC-"

"_Legilimens!_"

_Darkness falling, falling everywhere. My fault, always my fault. I shouldn't have put him there, no right I had no right. I condemned him, his death. My one charge. Failure. No. Must be done. Hope. Death. Failure. Truth shrouded so deeply. So deep it hurts. The truth would break us all. But even without we are doomed._

It is all a lie and we are all doomed.

Everything you know I told you.

Everything you know is lies.

Snape tore his mind away, shaking. He fell to his knees on the floor, the horror, the _confusion_, filling him. Dumbledore had fallen too, back into his chair. The old mans face twisted in pure agony. To keep a truth locked inside for nine years only to have it roughly ripped from you? It must have felt like his heart had been torn out. Snape shook his head, it could not be true, it couldn't be. But behind the dark mutterings of Dumbledore's mind, behind the aching remorse the real memories hid. He had pushed them deep, as if trying to forget them but they were there. They were impossible to forget. Snape knew he never would. The magnitude of what the old man had done hit him and he doubled over, vomiting onto the cold stone floor.

He felt hands on his shoulders. Natalie. He reached up for one and grasped it, holding on to something real as parts of his universe fell apart. He tried to stand and found he needed Natalie's help to rise to his feet. His legs felt like water, his feet like led. He tried to make his mouth work, things needed to be said. Something needed to be said.

"How dare you?" Predictable, but Snape could think of nothing better. "How could you do that? To a _child!_"

"It... was necessary." Dumbledore's voice was barely a murmur, a faint whisper in the air. "It had to be done. It had to be done. It had to be done." Dumbledore mumbled that phrase over and over like a prayer.

"Necessary?" Snape found his tongue and used it to growl. "No. No it was not. Not even you believe that."

"We needed-"

"BE SILENT!" Snape snapped, the headmaster cringed back as if struck. "I am leaving Dumbledore. I am going to help Harry. To find him and help him, and you will let me. You have no right to have anything to do with that boy. You have no right." Snape turned towards the door, but stopped as his eye fell on Lupin.

"And you." Snape sneered. "You... for going along with him. For keeping it a secret. For treating Harry the way you do because of something that was none of his doing. Something that was done to him. You... you are a monster. One that has nothing to do with the moon." Snape turned away and hobbled from the room, leaning heavily on the small woman beside him.

"Severus!" Dumbledore called after him, suddenly sounding scared. "You will tell no one! Surely even you can see that this must remain a secret!"

Snape kept walking, not trusting himself to speak. They reached the door and he stiffened, his heart felt like it had a thousand tiny hooks in it, each one attached to a weight.

"Severus?" Natalie murmured beside him. "You need to go home, I'll take you-"

"No. Not home. Hogwarts." Snape shook his head. "Hogwarts first."

"Alright." She didn't argue, she knew when his mind was made up. There was a short, sharp chime and the woman he was leaning on had blond hair and pale white skin. Of course, she was supposed to be dead. Trust her to remember details even at a time like this. They stepped outside the boundary of the wards and apparated, the cold and pressing void once more enclosing him.

He stepped out himself onto the grass before the gates and allowed himself to be led up the long path to the castle. Corridors passed and Snape realized he was being led to his quarters. Good. The walls are warded so no one will hear. As they reached the door Snape pushed it open and went directly to the liquor cabinet. He poured himself a whisky and drunk it down, wincing at the burn in his throat.

"Ghost Myrtle Henderson." Snape called out softly. Ghosts could always hear their names. A few moments later the shadowy shape of Moaning Myrtle sunk out of the ceiling.

"Why did _you_ call me?" She asked impudently. "I don't answer to you."

"I called you because the house elves report to Dumbledore as do the other ghosts. I need these words to be private." Snape snapped quickly. "I need you to bring professor Michelson down here and I need you to tell no one."

"You can't order me ar-"

"It is about Harry."

"Oh. Oh..." Myrtle nodded fervently and shot back up through the stone. Snape turned to Natalie, now back to looking like her old self, waiting patiently.

"You don't have to tell me." She said understandingly. "I understand if it's something you want to keep to yourself. After all Dumbledore-"

"Was wrong." Snape cut her off. "And I will tell you. If nothing else I need your help to make sense of it." Snape took a deep breath and began explaining. He could have just given her the memories but he didn't want her to get the shock he had. It didn't actually take that long to explain, in the end it was so simple. When he was finished she just sat there, staring at him. As if willing him to jump up and yell 'fooled you!', but knowing he would not.

"This... this changes everything." She said breathlessly.

"It changes nothing." Snape gritted his teeth. "We still need to help Harry."

"You're right, we still do. But it changes everything else Severus. Everything else. You cannot deny that it does."

"No. No I cannot."

They fell into silence as the door was pushed open. Markus Michelson strode in, looking around the small room quickly.

"The ghost said this was about Harry." He said, still glancing around as if Harry would spring from a sideboard. "Do you know where he is?"

"No, but I have... I have left the order to search for him. To help him with what he is trying to do. If I can." Snape fixed the other man in the eye. "I know you've been teaching him. I would appreciate your help."

"Well finally!" Michelson threw up his arms. "I was beginning to think I was the only one in this place with my head on straight."

"You are not far wrong." Snape shrugged.

"So what does this make us?" Natalie smiled. "The order of the Kneasle?"

"The order of the Nundu more like." Michelson cracked his knuckles.

"You know, I think it makes us marauders." Snape smiled faintly. "James Potter must be spinning in his grave."


	39. Changeling Child: 5

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child: Chapter 5: The dark market

_This reporter has some shocking news. News that will strike you, good reader, to your very core. Harry Potter has been declared a dangerous vigilante by the ministry. Yes, Harry Potter the-boy-who-lived, is a murderer. According to ministry officials Harry has been responsible for at least six deaths and possibly more!_

Minister Fudge was quoted as saying 'Yes, well this is shocking but not entirely unexpected. Just look at his actions during the Triwizard Tournament, the boy stole a ship for Merlin's sake. He's always been a loose cannon that boy has.'

This announcement came at the same time as his official expulsion from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

The marauders looked at each other along the long table in the great hall. None of them said 'Is this a joke?' or 'No way' or anything naively childish like that. They were past that. They had all known, on some level, that this was possible. Maybe even inevitable.

"Changes nothing." Fred was the first to speak. "It's all bollocs so it changes nothing."

"This is crazy! Do they think we're stupid?" Ron was almost spluttering in anger. "No one's gonna believe any of this!"

"I almost wish people did." Hermione was shaking her head as she peered down at the front page article.

"What! You want people to believe Harry's a-" Ron rounded on her, about to let loose, but Ginny held up a hand to bring him up short. He was still fuming though and said, more reasonably. "_Maybe_ you should _explain_ that comment."

"Because no one will believe it Ronald." Hermione bit her lip worriedly. "Or at least many people won't. And people will blame the ministry. People will hate the ministry for attacking their hero."

"Remember the riots last year?" Padma said darkly. "Imagine that. Except much worse."

"Oh..." Ron's face fell. "I guess that is bad."

"It changes nothing." Malfoy said sharply. "Not really. We all knew this was a possibility."

"Right," Ginny nodded, putting on her leader face. "He's right. All this does is make what we're doing even more urgent."

They all nodded, they had been training ever since they had got back to hogwarts a month ago.

_  
His description has been given to every ministry law enforcement official and hit wizard. His position on the ministry's wanted list is only a few places short of the known death eaters!_

According to the ministry Harry's M.O. is to use poison to do his dirty work. A poison there is no known antidote to.

Harry's description is known to every wizard and witch alive but you should be aware that he may be in disguise.

"This is Dumbledore's doing." Natalie shook her head as she slid the paper over to Snape. Michelson had already flicked his copy closed and was staring at it angrily, as if blaming the paper itself. Snape sighed, he had already read the offending article.

"Dumbledore undoubtedly had a hand in it." Snape tried to stop his ire rising to the surface. Keep it under wraps, save it for when it was needed. "Perhaps he thinks he can scare Harry back to him."

"Then he doesn't know Harry." Michelson stood and began pacing angrily, obviously he felt no need to keep his ire under wraps. "This'll just make Harry even more sure that everyone's against him!"

"Undoubtedly." Snape flicked through the rest of the newspaper. "At least there is some good news..."

_  
Harry may be active in Leeds. Yesterday the ministry was handed an anonymous tip that led them to a house there that had been converted to house dark creatures. No death eaters were caught (perhaps the bodies are hidden elsewhere!) but the basement was a nest of lethifolds, swarming in the darkness in numbers never before seen on British soil. I do not need to tell you, good reader, that if they had been unleashed they would have caused untold destruction. The lethifolds have been disposed of by the ministry._

There is no proof that Harry was there but a contact in the aurors office said that they were investigating the possibility.

Harry is to be considered as dangerous as any death eater. Perhaps more so.

Harry dumped the paper in a trash can. It didn't matter anymore. He coughed roughly, clutching at his stomach. It didn't matter if the ministry caught him so long as he did what he had to do first. What the hell did he care what everybody else thought? It just meant he had to be more careful.

Harry shoved off the wall and flicked his hood up before walking off down he alleyway. There was still work to do.

"Is it true?"

Ginny turned at the sound, the angry and forceful sound. The marauders spun with her, almost in synchronicity. Cho Chang stepped back fearfully. In her defense the marauders now numbered eleven, filling the hallway with uniform anger. They had also all drawn their wands at the same time as she spoke, in response to the possible threat.

They must have truly looked like an army.

Cho had frozen in place, anger turned to stunned silence. Ginny stepped forward.

"Of course it's not true." She said simply. "How can you even ask that?"

"I just..." Cho swallowed, fear still flickering across her face. "Is Harry Ok?"

"We don't know."

"Where is he?"

"We don't know."

"Does he need help?"

"We don't know. We're trying to help him." Ginny said curtly. She was beginning to get tired of Cho's stupid questions. Ginny turned to leave when Cho broke in,

"Well I want to help too!" Ginny felt a little mental groan. That was just what she needed, a complaining pretty-girl in the ranks. A constant irritation at best, a liability at worst. Cho went on, "I'm older than you, and I'm a Ravenclaw. I must know lots of spells you don't know yet! You should let me join."

"No you don't you arrogant stuck-up..." Ginny clamped her mouth shut and took a deep calming breath. "This isn't the bloody gobstones club. You can't just join on a whim. We're training to fight, really fight. Fight death eaters."

"I know that." Cho looked down her nose arrogantly. "If you can do it then I can too."

"You don't understand! You..." Ginny gritted her teeth tight together again before turning to the marauders. "Vote. All of us. I vote no."

The marauders glanced about between them. Some of them had obviously been thinking of voting yes before she made her feelings so abundantly clear. After some embarrassed shuffling Draco stepped forward, eyeing Cho up and down silently. Ginny felt another spurt of bile rise in her gut.

"You accept the fact that you could die?" Draco asked flatly. Cho nodded, her eyes wide. Draco looked into her eyes for a moment, Ginny thought she heard him mutter something under his breath. Draco cocked his head to the side and asked another question. "Do you accept the fact that you have to take orders from Ginny?"

YES! Take that you bitch! Ginny was shocked at the level of glee her subconscious threw up at that question. If her subconscious was happy with the question, her entire brain grinned when Cho grimaced and nodded.

"Fine." Draco shrugged. "We need more people. I vote yes. If she doesn't work out we can always make her leave."

"We vote yes." Fred said, shrugging. His twin added, "Sorry Ginny."

"I... yes." Parvati nodded, a little hesitantly.

"No." Padma shook her head, earning her a shocked glance from her sister. "We don't need her. No reason to take on another project when we don't need her."

"Look just put your hands up." Ginny said tiredly. "Hands for no?"

Three hands rose, herself, Padma and Hermione. Ginny's stomach dropped, this didn't look good.

"For yes?"

Five hands were raised. Ron had followed his older brothers. Ginny turned to silent three remainders.

"Neville, Anna, Terry?" Neville shifted uncomfortably and the Baker twins looked at the floor. "You need to vote."

"I don't want to vote." Neville said quietly.

"And we're new." Anna shrugged. "We'll let you decide."

"You see!" Cho said triumphantly. "I'm in!"

Ginny turned slowly, it was done. Time to make the best of it.

"Fine. Meet us here after lessons today."

"Today? But I've got quidditch practice."

_I know_. Ginny didn't say it, but she so wanted to. "This is more important than quidditch. We all understand that. You need to."

With that she turned and strode away. She hoped Cho wouldn't turn up tonight. That would really make her day.

Ginny survived herbology with a book of curses propped up against a plant pot. She did the same in Defense, professor Michelson was being oddly blind to the transgressions of the marauders. After the lessons were done she slammed her books away and dashed for the door. She ran for the meeting place but slowed down before she got there. She wouldn't come all covered in sweat and breathing hard. She wouldn't give Cho the satisfa...

Cho wasn't alone.

Ginny stopped with the marauders a few paces away from the newcomers. Lucy Kingston stood by her Ravenclaw friend with her boyfriend, Joshua Split, standing on her other side. The two ex-Slytherin Gryffindors, Vanessa and Elizabeth stood in front of him, eyeing Malfoy warily. It irked Ginny that all of them were here. It irked her more that they were probably the people she would have chosen to admit to the marauders herself. Stupid Cho.

"You told them." She tried to make her voice come out icily angry, hoping it didn't just sound peevish. "You told all of them. What the hell do you think-"

"I don't tell them!" Cho interrupted her. "Everyone in the school is talking about the news about Harry, and everybody knows you lot are doing something secret. They just..."

"We eavesdropped." Split interrupted. "We want to help Harry too."

"This is getting ridiculous." Padma muttered from the depths of the marauders.

"We heard what you asked Cho." Split went on. "And we understand the risks. Lets face it, if you trust _him_," Split jerked his chin towards Malfoy. "You have to trust us."

"I don't have to trust any of you." Good, that sounded like Harry. "Listen I don't care what you say. We're going to train now. If you can keep up you can stay, we don't have time to slow down for you."

"Fine with us... madam sergeant." Split added sarcastically.

"Idiots." Ginny muttered as she led the amassed hordes off down the corridor.

"Listen."

Malfoy stopped and turned towards Split. The older boy had halted them just outside the entrance to the marauders attic, everyone else was already inside.

"Yes?" Malfoy said evenly. "Can I help you?"

"I just want you to know we're here for Harry." Split said challengingly. "We don't trust you. We don't forgive you."

"You're here for the same reason I am then."

"Whatever." Split shook his head. "God knows why she trusts you. Let alone... well you know."

"I know what?" Malfoy looked around in confusion. "She who?"

"You don't know?" Split almost seemed to smile. "Idiot."

"She who?"

"I expect she'll let you know in her own time."

"_She who?_"

Harry pushed his way out of the old shop he had flued into and a blast of heat hit his face. He dragged a broad brimmed hat out of his bag and pulled it low over his eyes. Ah, that was better. His coat and it's various enchantments would have kept his body cool but it would have looked incredibly conspicuous here. He winced in the harsh light and shucked his bag up on his shoulders before setting off along the dark tarmac street.

Muggles walked past him without a second thought, jabbering to each other in French. The accent was very different from what he was used to but that was only to be expected. Harry had learnt French in Switzerland and only spoken it to the students of Beauxbatons. Harry idly wondered if his French had a Swiss accent or an English one.

No matter, he was in Marrakesh, thousands of miles from France or England. He would stand out as a foreigner whatever he did. No point trying to blend in with the locals, much better to just look like another stupid tourist. There were one or two others around. Harry picked up his pace as he crossed the street and into the souk.

Why is it that I always find myself in mazes? Harry thought to himself chuckling as he skirted around a stall of vegetables and slid through the crowd of shoppers. The muggle souk was bad enough, a gigantic warren of streets and alleyways full of shops and market stalls selling everything from spices to electronics. Harry kept on an unerring course through it, it wasn't his destination.

Hopefully he knew where his destination was, his information was sketchy at best.

Harry came to the stall he wanted, a dark hole in the wall selling decrepit and moth eaten clothing. He took a black t-shirt with a star on it off the rack and glanced at the aging shopkeeper. There was a barely perceptible nod. Harry stepped behind a screen, a rough changing room, and pulled the curtain shut. He held the shirt up and tapped the star twice. With a sharp groaning the floor began to grind slowly downwards.

Harry tried not to touch the sides of the stone passageway as the opening at the top got further and further away. Ten meters... twenty... thirty... forty- clunk. Harry snapped to attention as the floor stopped descending. The stone in front of him split apart slowly, light spilled in, and air. The smells... every scent imaginable, burning, animals, food of every kind, incense made of spun lightning, every scent a wizard with no regard for the laws of chemistry could create hung in the air as Harry stepped out of the dark entrance into the under-souk, the dark market.

Knockturn alley had nothing on this place.

Harry looked up at the ceiling a far above, mosaics kaleidoscoped over the rounded surface, changing every moment. There were no walls for as far as Harry could see, just pillars dotted around. In no pattern Harry could see. Every one as wide as an oak, twisted and gouged and splaying up into that fantastic ceiling. Disappearing into it. And down at ground level? It was indescribable. Every kind of shop, every kind of stall. Some sellers just sitting of a mat, arrays of bottles out in front of them. Others had displays that looked like insane and un-feasible pop up books, everything spilling out of everything else. The noise was deafening, worse than up above because the noise of sparking spells and fuming potions was added to the general noise of people, and there was the occasional screech as another shopper was brought down by one of the entrances.

There was no finding your way in this place. Not unless you grew up down here. Harry scanned the area while walking calmly forwards. Many stalls had tall flagpoles to identify them from far away, he was looking for... ah. Harry spotted the flag he was looking for and headed for it, surreptitiously checking his disguise as he did so. Harry flicked a black robe out of his bag and threw it over his shoulders. Like this he looked like about thirty, maybe more, with long black hair and a deep scar on his cheek. Threatening, but not obvious.

Harry smelt his destination before he got there. The smell of animals and animal dung beating out the other odors more and more the closer he got. He came to an open place in the market, a place where the stalls had been pushed aside to make room for rank upon rank of cages. Harry recognized some of the creatures in them, others were a mystery, all he gave a wide birth. The cages seemed almost stupidly sturdy, surely they used unbreakable charms. Surely they did...

Harry felt himself edging away and forced himself to calm down. He looked into one of the cages, a monstrosity made of whole I-beams, and saw the eye of a dragon staring back at him. Somehow they must have stopped it flaming, they must have. Harry stepped calmly up the rough desk at the end of the cages. It was surrounded by bags of what looked like some sort of feed. An ordinary bird cage sat on the corner with a small golden bird fluffing its feathers. The heavily bearded and mustachioed man sat behind it looked up as he approached.

"Yes?" He asked in easy English. "Are you look for something?"

"My name is Jack Caiman. I have come for you to tell me the progress of an order." Harry pulled back his sleeve, revealing the dark mark. The shopkeeper recoiled, glancing about fearfully.

"Put that away!" He gestured wildly. Harry calmly rolled his sleeve back down.

"You have nothing to fear." Harry said airily. "Not while you do the dark lord's work."

"Why you come here?" The man's eyes were still shifting nervously. "All on schedule."

"There have been some problems at the other end."

"Not my fault." The seller shook his head. "Got them safe to you. You lose them after it not my fault."

"Of course not." Harry smiled in an uncomforting way. "You mistake me. I merely meant that we have reason to need to make sure this delivery goes smoothly. There can be no mistakes. You understand."

"Of course, of course." The man nodded rapidly. "Do not worry. You can tell your master not to worry. Everything is fine."

"Where are the creatures now?"

"They are on ship." The man shuffled back to his desk and sat down. "Loaded on two days ago."

Damnit, Harry cursed inwardly. It would have been so much easier if they were still on dry land.

"Tell me their course." Harry leant down threateningly. "My master is thinking of sending some people to ensure there are no... mistakes."

"No mistakes." The man nodded again, dragging a map out of a drawer in his desk. "No mistakes."

Harry smiled, people were so stupid when they thought you were going to kill them.

Harry dropped back onto British soil and immediately flued again to stave off any pursuit. He walked the last long walk to the abandoned house he was staying in and pushed the door open. It was dark inside, the windows covered by anti-vandal plates put up by the police. It was empty , not even a chair when he had first arrived. But it was clean and the water was still running. Harry slouched down against the wall and collapsed. Long day. He reached over and picked up a bottle of pep up potion. He uncorked it and let some slosh into his mouth. This was his second dose today. It was growing harder to keep going... the sickness...

Harry shook his head, no use dwelling on it. Back to work. He spread the maps out in front of him on the floor and roughly arranged them out into a rough match to the coast of Africa and Europe. The maps were seriously old, like everything else wizards had, and some of the countries had the wrong names. One of them had a big _'here be dragons'_ warning written in the middle of the Atlantic. Knowing that it was a wizard map it might well be true.

Harry sighed as he looked at the times that were written on different checkpoints on the map. The ship was old too, or looked it. The man had sketched a rough drawing of it. It resembled nothing more than a giant wooden brick with small sails that surely could never propel it too fast. Of course it would be propelled by magic, if not it would just be stupid, but it would still take almost a month to come up from Africa. Could be take it in the middle of the ocean? Harry shuddered at the thought. Besides the coursing fear at the very thought it was impractical to boot. How would he even get on board the ship? How would he even find it on the blank featureless sea?

Harry trawled over the maps again, was there any place where it came close to land? Was there any... ambush point?

Oh of course! There's this big tree in the middle of the ocean that you can hide behind. Sharks use it all the time to catch seals.

Harry sat back tiredly, this was going to be harder than he thought. His eyelids felt so heavy... sleep...

Harry glanced around, he was in a house. A fire crackled warmly on the hearth, throwing faint shadows on the clean blue walls. The pictures on the walls, a redheaded woman, a man with a familiar face. Harry shook his head, it was a dream. He had had it before. He walked towards the door and pushed it open hurrying out of the house and into the neat garden. He glanced back, the cottage was as it always was. The cottage at Godrics Hollow. Harry shuddered, every time his dreams put him in this place he had an undeniable urge to leave. It was like putting your hand in a bucket of wriggling worms, a crawling sensation over his entire skin. And yet his dreams brought his back here again and again and again.

Harry hugged his arms to his chest. Maybe this would be one of the good nights, the nights when he managed to escape. There was a forest out there somewhere, a forest of apple trees, their blossoms filling the air. When he could find that in his dreams he slept well, he slept comfortably. But for every one of those there would be one of the bad ones, when the house kept drawing him back. He didn't even want to think about what had happened once, when the river had come for him.

Harry pulled himself together with a force of will. Those apple trees weren't going to find themselves. He was about to set off when a fluttering sound reached his ear. Harry spent a second wondering if it was some new unpleasantness the dream was throwing at him before he realized it was coming from outside.

Harry woke with a start and was on his feet in a moment, wand in hand. He relaxed when he saw that the sound was coming from a small white bird trying to squeeze in through the bottom of the window. The bird twittered then flickered back outside. It took Harry a moment to realize it had left something behind, a small folded piece of paper.

Interesting. Especially considering no one should be able to contact me here.

Harry stood and hesitantly poked the paper with his wand. It did nothing. He prodded it again. Still nothing. He flicked it on the floor and folded it open with the end of a fork. He bent down and read it without touching it.

_Harry_

I once told you to follow your own path if you thought it was right. You seem to have taken that advice to heart. I cannot and will not say that your choice is wrong, it may be, it may not be, I do not know. But you cannot destroy yourself for the sake of this battle. Do not. Your friends worry about you. They are as I write this working to help you. Training as hard as you ever did. You are not alone no matter how much you fight to make it so. There are people that will suffer if you die, even if you take Voldemort with you.

I can not offer you any information about Voldemort's plans or whereabouts. I am constrained by the rules of my order. I would break them for you but it would do no good. I would be found out long before I could divine anything for you.

The only help I can give you I have already given. I wish I could do more Harry, you must believe that.

Remember to wear the pendent.

DO NOT DIE.

Pythea.

Harry picked the small piece of parchment up carefully and slipped it into his breast pocket. His hand stayed there a moment longer, pressing it into his chest, before he took a deep breath and let it out.

Do not die.

He did not intend to, but it had always been a possibility. And no matter how much people would suffer if he died they would suffer more if Voldemort was left alive. Harry had a strong urge to take the missive back out and read it once again, or maybe twice or three times. But no, he had work to do. Wait... something in the letter tugged at his mind. Maybe there was a way.

Malfoy snorted as Cho was sent flying across the room. The new recruits were trying to keep up, they were just failing. He turned away, they were useless, just a waste of time for the rest of them. The marauders themselves? Draco managed a small smile for that, they were progressing nicely. They could fight. They could fight as a team. They could fight on their own. They could fight like kneazles in a sack if they needed to. And they would need to.

He moved over to a pile of faded boxes and ran his fingers over a long, thin, grey cloak inside. The Weasley twins claimed they could turn them into temporary invisibility cloaks with some more practice. Draco didn't doubt it. The charms wouldn't last for more than a day or two but that was all they needed. They could just respell them afterwards. Shield charms graced the dark grey jackets in the next box, enough to deter minor hexes. In the beginning it had just been a way to carry the charms, the same as an amulet or a ring. Rings of invisibility were common enough even though they were hideously hard to make and protective amulets were ten a penny. But the clothes were easier for the Weasleys to work, and the dark grey made them inconspicuous at night. That had been the start, but now it almost seemed more... Like they were becoming an army in truth, they had uniforms. Parvati had wanted to stitch little Ms onto the clothing as a symbol of the marauders but Ginny hadn't let her. Waste of time, too conspicuous too. Draco smiled again, it didn't matter if the clothes were plain grey or pink with little snitches. Either way by the end they would have an group of invisible, shielded, deadly fighters.

Invincible cutthroat bastards. Marauders to the core. Harry would have been proud. At least, Draco hoped he would be.

"Draco!" Ron yelled. "Break time's up get back here."

"I'm coming Weasley stop yelling." Draco gritted his teeth, all of his muscles hurt. Never mind. "Back to work."

"Stop. I need to talk to you."

The voice came out of nowhere. The marauders twisted towards it, wands out. The duels ceased, every eye widened in shock.

"I heard somebody was raising an army." Harry quirked an eyebrow. "I find myself in need of an army. Is this one for hire?"

"Hire?" George let out a laugh. "Harry this is your army."

"Good, I should get a discount."

The marauders broke and all began talking at once, it was a happy storm of sound with Harry laughing in the center. Draco stayed silent, he glanced over at Ginny, also staying back. She nodded to him, her mouth a hard line. She had realized too. Harry hadn't come back for a happy reunion. He wouldn't have. He had come because he needed them. This would be the first job of the army.

"Harry..." Draco cleared his throat. The green eyes of the boy who lived fell on him. "What is it you want the army for?"

"Oh... that." Harry reached into his bag. "Do you have a table?"

Draco pointed the way and Harry pulled a huge sheet of parchment out of his bag. Harry laid them down on the rough surface of the last surviving table in the attic. It looked like a giant copy of a map.

"There's a ship." Harry traced it's path along a long line on the map. "It's stuffed to the gills with dark creatures. Direct to the dark lord. Hundreds, including a lot that we really don't want him getting his hands on. It's not going to make port before Britain, it's going to be far out to sea. No portkeys, no flues, only way there is to fly."

"That's why you need us." Padma said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, kind of." Harry hung his head. "I can just about manage to fly in a straight line. Slowly. But out over water? With the wind and maybe storms and... and _over water_. And when I might have to make a quick exit? No. I need getaway drivers."

"I thought you wanted us to fight." Ron said, disappointedly. Harry's eyes narrowed, he opened his mouth but Ginny cut in.

"We're here for whatever Harry needs us for Ron." She snapped. "You should know that."

"I... right."

"Right." Ginny nodded sharply. Draco half expected Ron to salute. Ginny turned back to Harry. "What kind of dark creatures are we talking about?"

"Various kinds of nasty." Harry was looking between Ginny and Ron curiously. "Lots of creatures."

"Manticores?" Hermione added.

"Yes..." Harry looked at a list jotted at the bottom of the map. "Six of them."

Draco glanced at the list and let out a startled oath. They could not let this ship reach land. Even if they had to lose half the army to do it. The hellhounds had to be juveniles at least, no one could stuff six full grown ones into a ship. Unless it had been magically expanded. Which it almost certainly had. They could _not_ let that ship reach land.

"We need to get on that ship." He heard himself saying, his voice a little breathless. "We could fly on, or... or..."

"Go onto it?" Harry let out a harsh laugh. "That would be pretty dangerous."

"Because of the creatures?"

"Because I'm going to sink it."


	40. Changeling Child: 6

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 6: A history of death

"Sink it?" Hermione's voice was a shrill, disbelieving whine.

Ginny felt like slamming her hand up to her forehead. Of course Harry would want to sink the ship, it was the simplest, easiest, solution if you didn't care about the consequences.

"But... but... " Terry Baker raised his hand slowly as if he were in class.

"Yes unexpected-addition-1." Harry nodded pleasantly.

"Aren't there people on the ship?"

"Yes, but they'll be wizards, they can just apparate to shore. They won't be killed."

"How about the creatures?" Ron asked, scratching his head. "Won't they just swim to shore?"

"Damnit!" Harry clicked his fingers. "Foiled again! If only someone had stuffed them in big metal cages for transport. Then they'd sink straight to the bottom."

"How are you planning to sink it anyway?" Fred asked, eagerness clearly visible in his eyes.

"Well, I plan to blow a big hole in it underneath the water line. Then I'm going to put another big hole in it underneath the water line. And if that doesn't work I'm going to put a third-"

"This is a wizard boat I assume Harry." Draco interrupted. "Putting a hole in it may not be as easy as you think. It'll have all sorts of charms and protections."

"I can bypass them."

"Without the people on the ship realizing?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes." Harry folded his arms. "I have thought about this Draco. I have planned this."

The attic became silent again. Ginny could feel the cogs moving in people's heads. They were all thinking how far they were willing to go. The marauders... well they were probably in. The others? They had signed up to fight death eaters not commit acts of terrorism. How did she stand on this? On balance... with Harry. Those creatures could not be allowed to reach shore.

"We can't do this." Padma was shaking her head. "We can't sink it."

"You running away?" Harry was looking at her in horror. "You want to just let them release that kind of-"

"No of course not!" Padma interrupted him. "But you haven't thought of everything."

"Oh yeah? Well what have I missed?"

"The statute of secrecy." Padma looked down at the map, perhaps just to avoid meeting people's eyes. "If we do this they'll be this giant wreck with triple headed skeletons and they could float to the surface or get into the gulf stream or divers could find them. Not to mention that someone's going to notice a giant exploding ship off the coast. Even if we tell the ministry afterwards they can't manage this kind of cleanup, not on this scale. No one can. It'll be worse than Roswell. Keeping magic secret from muggles, the statute of secrecy, is the one thing both sides of this war agree on. If we break it then _they're_ going to start breaking it and then we're going to be _really_ screwed."

Harry leant back, rocking back on the balls of his feet. He bit his lip. Thinking. The marauders held their breath.

"Ok." Harry spun the map to face Padma. "Give me another option."

"We board the ship. Incapacitate the crew. Kill the creatures." Padma said definitively. "If I'm reading this right the ship only a dozen people on it. No death eaters. Most of them are just there to keep the animals in check. Shouldn't be too hard to stun them."

"And the animals?" Harry asked quizzically. "Some of them aren't easy to kill."

"The killing curse." Gasps rose from the army. "It'll kill everything on this list."

"Isn't it an instant life sentence?" Cho choked out.

"Only when used against humans." Padma replied calmly at the same time as Harry said,

"Only if someone finds out. But wouldn't _any_ underage magic be detected."

"Not in international waters."

"And the ship?" Harry asked. "If we just leave it drifting won't that be against the statute of secrecy?"

"We leave the crew on it. They can get it so a safe wizard harbor."

"Hmm..."Harry folded his arms and looked at Padma appraisingly. "That... could... work. It would be more difficult, more risky... more fun... but it could work."

Ginny felt a grin. This was the almost like the old Harry back again. Sure they were planning an act of massive piracy rather than a prank but it was Harry back again.

"We can split up." Harry continued. "Send a couple of people down to the water to wait. The rest of us go in. If we can take the crew out and kill the animals we do. If not? We default back to my plan and the people in the water blow it to smithereens. We worry about the fallout later."

Ginny took a deep breath and halfway through realized that most of the marauders were looking at her. Her throat closed up and she almost coughed up her lungs. They were still looking to her, even though Harry was back. Harry was the general they all knew that, but maybe... maybe she was the sergeant or something.

"Who can swim?" It was literally the first thing that popped into her head. "Who can swim really well?"

Parvati's hand shot up instantly smiling, the two Baker children volunteered slower maybe still a little hesitant, finally Split shrugged and lacklusterly raised his arm.

"Four people." Ginny looked down at the map, at the little sketch of the ship. "We can put... two each in the water near the front and back."

"Prow and stern." Draco murmured. She glared at him.

"Near the front and back." Ginny continued. "Everybody else land on the front."

"On the back." Harry disagreed. "Here, in the steering bit with the wheel."

"Bridge."

"Shut up. We land on the steery bit and take everybody out quickly." Harry pointed at Draco. "You stay there and keep the ship on course. You can do that? You know the right names for the steery wheel and the buttons and stuff. Yes. Good. You stay there, the rest of us go down to the cabins and stun everybody, kill the animals. Leave. We keep the brooms handy so that if something goes wrong we miko the swimmers and fly out of there."

"Sounds like a plan." Ginny nodded.

"Right." Harry reached over and drew a big cross on the map over a lighthouse, right down on the south coast of Cornwall. "I will meet you here."

"Meet us?" Ron scratched his head.

"The ship's not reaching us for another month." Harry shrugged. "You don't expect me to hang around here the whole time. Dumbledore's out for the day but I think he'll notice if I start appearing on his little map."

"I thought-"

"You thought I was back." Harry finished for him. "Well I'm not. There's still death eater's out there. Still work to be done. Train up, be ready, and I'll meet you there. Keep the map, I've got copies. But don't let anyone see it. Goes without saying. And look up how to fight all these things." Harry turned towards the door. He disillusioned himself with a flick of the wrist, and a moment later he was gone.

"Well," Malfoy said dryly. "I guess we have work to do."

"Can you believe he came back?" Ron drew his knees up to his chest. He and Hermione were in the library, the actual library, not the attic. They were on research duty and had about eight billion books out in front of them on every kind of magical creature, trawling through them for the useful ones. There weren't many. The Hogwarts library for some reason didn't have books on how to slaughter caged animals. Ron thought it was useless, they had already decided to use the killing curse, but apparently Harry wanted to be prepared so...

"Hmm?" Hermione hadn't looked up from the huge book in front of her.

"Can you believe he came back?" Ron repeated. "Harry."

"Shush!" Hermione put a finger to her lips. "We're not supposed to talk about him where people could hear!"

"No one's listening." Ron rolled his eyes. "We're sitting on the floor in the restricted section of the library, at midnight, under a temporary invisibility cloak."

"It's not an inaudibility cloak." Hermione hissed.

"Hermione _no one_ is here."

"Just keep reading." Hermione looked back down at her book. "I'm not doing all this myself."

"I'd have thought you'd jump at the chance." Ron smirked. "With all the training it must be _ages_ since you studied anything."

"Yes..." Hermione bit her lip. "And the owls are later this year..."

"What we're doing now is more important."

"Yes. Yes I know." Hermione shrugged noncommittally. "It's just... well there's the rest of our lives to think about. What about after the war ends? What then?"

"Look at it this way. If Voldemort destroys the ministry he'll probably destroy the Wizarding Examination Authority too."

"That doesn't help." Hermione stared at him angrily. Ron felt his hackles rising, another fight brewing. But they couldn't fight, not here.

"You're here because if you weren't here you'd feel guilty for not being here." Ron blurted. "And you could be somewhere else but you'd be thinking about being here so it wouldn't even matter that you were there because you wouldn't be able to concentrate because you'd be thinking about here and him and Voldemort will kill everyone. Even worse you'd get bad grades because you'd be feeling guilty." Ron ran out of breath.

Hermione's mouth hung open, mid yell. She opened and shut it a few times before coming out with,

"Shush. People will hear you."

I won. Ron smiled as he flicked a random book open.

"I am disquieted Severus."

Snape stayed silent. He could not think of a safe response.

"I should be winning this war."

Still no safe response.

"And yet things are not progressing as well as they should be." The dark lord was staring out into the darkness through a faded window. They were in another nondescript and abandoned building. Snape felt his skin crawl, he had been summoned alone. That was worrying.

"The ministry grows weaker every day." Snape volunteered.

"It grows more fearful each day." Voldemort tapped his fingers on the glass. "Fear can be my weapon, but it can also work against me. They retreat, they place more guards, they make it more difficult for me to reach what I seek. Do the order still keep a guard on the department of mysteries Severus?"

"Yes my lord." For all I know they could have stopped, not likely though.

"At this point the easiest way to gain access to it may simply be to crush the ministry entirely." He was still staring out the window. If Snape didn't know better he would think the dark lord was worried.

"If you wish to crush the ministry perhaps we could use the imperious curse-"

"No!" The dark lord snapped. "No Severus, no more sly maneuvering in the darkness. No more subversion. I tire of it. I tire of it's inadequacy. I should not have to work from the shadows. Do you not think so?"

"I always work in the shadows Lord."

"Yes... yes you do." The dark lord narrowed his eyes. "The Potter boy is a problem."

Snape gritted his teeth. He had to think fast to keep up with these lightning fast changes of pace.

"The Potter boy has always been a problem." Snape said diffidently. "But he is just one person."

"He has caused me a great deal of trouble for one person. I would once again order his death but... I fear it would do no good."

"He wants to kill you." Snape said, letting his mouth move as his mind worked. "We could set some kind of trap."

"With your lord as bait?" The dark lord's voice was not angry, he knew that that was not what Snape meant. This was actually what passed for banter.

"Of course not my Lord. I apologize." That had been what the dark lord expected to hear.

"Is there any progress with the toxin Severus? The one that has been killing so many of our friends?"

"Not a great deal my lord." Severus bowed his head. He had no trouble feigning shame at not being able to discover the secrets of the mysterious toxin. "It is very strange. I can not separate a single ingredient out. It is almost as if the poison was not brewed at all."

"Explain."

"As if it came directly from a creature." Though that was of course impossible. No known creature carried a toxin like this. "All I can think of is that perhaps someone has been breaking the decree against experimental breeding."

"You do not think it was Potter?"

"It may have been." Better to keep the dark lord guessing. "If he did not then we have two vigilantes against us."

"Against us..." The dark lord seemed to roll the word on his lips. "Against us... people who are against me die. I have let this continue for too long. We have been forced back too much. It will cease now. I have decided. We will crush the ministry. We will obliterate them utterly. No subversion, no shadows, I will kill them."

"Yes my lord." Snape tried to work out how many death eaters were left. Surprisingly few. Harry had seriously cut into their numbers. Did they even have enough people for an assault on the ministry? Probably... they probably had enough. If the order helped though... if Dumbledore helped...

"We will wait for the shipment to arrive." The dark lord said, almost to himself. "Then we will have the forces necessary."

The shipment. The phantom shipment. None of the death eaters knew when it would be arriving. It was apparently too important.

"Yes my lord." Snape bowed deeply. "We will need everyone for this to succeed. If I might ask where Barty Crouch is perhaps-"

"No!" The dark lord looked at Snape over his shoulder. The icy stare could have nailed oxen to the wall. "Crouch is doing what he has been told to. He will succeed, in time. He is one of the few I can trust. Him and you, Severus."

You trust no one. Snape thought as he turned away. Now where have I heard that before?

Hermione held on tighter as the broomstick angled down. She was following the broom ahead of her but the lighthouse was already visible far below, sending out it's pulsing beacon across the night-time sea. The wind was hideously cold on her face and the dark lashings of rain kept spraying in through her hood. There couldn't have been a worse day to invade a ship full of monsters.

The ground came up and she managed to land without falling. All around her she heard the rest of the army touch down. Well... most of the rest of the army... Of the new recruits only Split was there, lounging over his broomstick in his usual state of mild boredom. The others had been left behind, Ginny had decided they weren't ready, weren't trained yet. Not that Split was properly ready either but he was only going in the water.

Hermione looked around. Harry was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he wasn't here yet.

"You're late." Harry faded out of nowhere, shocking the marauders. "Lets get on with this." Harry kept glancing at the crashing waves nervously. He drew a large bottle out of his coat and took a deep gulp from it before shoving it back. "Pep up potion, didn't sleep well last night." Harry explained. Hermione tried to ignore the twin facts, one: that the bottle had been almost empty and two: that as Harry shoved it back in his pocket there had been the unmistakable chink of further bottles.

"Take these." George broke the silence and stepped forward with a little M shaped pin and a small pair of blue tinted glasses.

"What the hell are these?" Harry squinted through the lenses. "Everything looks weird."

"The pins are tags." George explained. "The glasses can see the tags even under invisibility cloaks. This way we can keep track of each other."

"Ah... nice." Harry pinned the tag on his dark coat and dropped the glasses in a pocket. "I'll put them on when we get there."

"They're your prescription."

"I know." Harry nodded. "Thanks. Who's broom am I sharing?"

"Over here." Draco waved him over and Harry hesitantly flipped a leg over his broom.

"Well, we all know what we have to do." Harry addressed the marauders. "Lets get this done before we get too wet."

Draco's broom shot into the air and Hermione reluctantly followed. Out over the water the wind was even worse if that was possible, she kept being buffeted one way then the other. The sea underneath a groaning grey sheet, a dull reflection of the sky. They were getting further and further from land. The occasional light of the lighthouse got more and more faint. She couldn't see the flyers around her! She panicked for a moment until she realized how stupid she was being and slipped her blue lenses over her eyes. The little glowing sparks of the tags sprung into view, each one illuminating a little glowing blue ghost of a person. Like an outline in the darkness. Flying close, she was near the front. How did Harry expect to find the ship in this?

"ANGLE LEFT!" Was that Harry? The glowing shadows of Harry and Malfoy started to turn left. She turned to match them. What was he following? Intuition? Magic? Something he hadn't told them about.

"I DON'T SEE ANYTHING!" She heard Draco's voice on the wind.

"IT'S THERE." Harry was hunched over on the broom, peering out over Draco's shoulder. "WE'RE CLOSE! DROP DOWN!"

Hermione descended with the rest of them and shrieked with fear as the spray from the sea hit her legs. Surely they didn't need to be this low? Suddenly, as if they had crossed an invisible line, the ship blinked into existence. A low slung behemoth, waves making it roll and pitch sickeningly. It looked ancient, all the wood was black with age and weather. A huge rectangular block, slowly crawling across the water.

She felt someone pass her and saw shapes flying off towards the prow and stern, keeping close to the water. Even with the lights on the ship they were still only glowing outlines. The cloaks! She pulled hers around herself and flicked the hood up over her face. She should have done that earlier. The rest of them followed until they were right up against the side of the hull. Harry leant off his broom to lean against the pitching wood. Removing the protective charms, Hermione forced herself to calm down as they hovered there just above the dark water. Suddenly there was a little pop and a small creak... the wards were down. Hermione picked out the raised back section, the 'steery bit'. Where the rest of them were going. The brooms slowed to a crawl as they raised up the side. Absolute silence as they floated up onto the deck on the raised end section. No one was on deck, there weren't even any lights.

Harry raised his arm and pointed to a small hatch. He moved over to it, whispered a silencing charm, then pulled it open and climbed inside. Draco went next, moving just as silently. They had worked this out too, The Weasley twins would go last to watch their exit. Hermione realized it was her turn snuck over to the hatch as quietly as she could. The stairs flattened out to a short hallway with the door to the bridge, then kept going down into the body of the ship.

The marauders were clustered around the door. Harry was crouched down looking at the lock, a look of concentration on his face. Hermione looked past him, down into the vast hold of the ship. Most of it was shrouded in darkness but she could just see the rows upon rows of cages down the side of the ship. The bars were rusted and ancient, reinforced with magic. But they looked like they were original to the ship... like they were built in. Which was ridiculous of course, unless...

Unless this used to be a slave ship.

Hermione shuddered despite herself. None of the others had realized, none of them would. Except for Harry they had all been wizard raised and he hadn't been in school long enough. There was no point telling them, no reason to make this any creepyer than it already was.

The shadow that was Harry stood suddenly and put his hand on the door handle. What was he doing? This wasn't part of the plan! They were going to use gas under the door. What was going on? Hermione raised her wand, they had to stun everyone inside in a moment. Harry threw the door open unhurriedly. The sharp tang of blood filled the air. No one cast any spells. No one spoke. Harry slowly stepped into the bridge.

"Of course." He said dryly, the first words spoken since they'd landed, spoken dispassionately while looking out over a room full of ravaged corpses. "Of course they're loose. We're on a spooky ship at night full of man-eating deadly animals. _Of course_ the animals are loose. I was thinking that perhaps they wouldn't be, that perhaps something would go right. Obviously I was overlooking the fact that god hates marauders."

"What do we do now?" Neville murmured fearfully.

"Blow it." Ginny growled under her breath. "Forget everything. Sink it now."

"We can't." Harry said angrily as he stepped over a body and stood in front of the main wheel. "At least not yet."

"Why?" Parvati was glancing around fearfully. "Why not?"

"Two reasons." Harry leant against the wheel tiredly. "One; the whole point was that the animals would sink in their cages, now they could swim to shore. Two; there are still three crew members alive, barricaded down in the hold where they can't apparate out."

"How do you know?" Draco snapped suddenly.

"I know!" Harry snapped back. "We need a new plan. The creatures are mostly still in their cages, seems like it's just the manticores that got loose."

"How do you-"

"I just know!" Harry rubbed his forehead tiredly, his eyes were closed. "There are compartment doors down below. If we can trap the beasts inside the hold, separate it off and ward it up good it'll be the same as a cage. Water gets in, animals don't get out. Just one problem..."

"What?" Ginny was eyeing the doors carefully, looking for anything trying to sneak up on them.

"The crew are down in that hold." Harry took a deep breath and turned back towards the marauders. "Alright... this is what we're doing. I need four people with me down in the hold, It's too cramped for more. We go get the survivors, get out. The rest of you split up and watch the fore and aft doors. You lock them good the moment we give the signal."

"Four's not enough." Draco said immediately.

"I don't have time to argue!" Harry yelled. "You said you're an army this is what it's about! We need to do this. _We_ need to do _this_. The four best. Your four best. _Now_."

No one spoke, Hermione felt like kicking herself. Of course it wasn't like old times. Of course this wasn't the old Harry, it was definitely the new Harry. It always had been. Ginny cleared her throat,

"Draco, me, Hermione and Padma." Ginny took a deep breath. "Ron, Fred, George, you fly over and man the other door. Everyone else watch this one. The signal is-"

"Me yelling to shut the bloody doors." Harry interrupted. "No point being stealthy at that point."

Harry moved slowly out of the bridge. Hermione steeled herself them followed. They stepped down the stairs slowly, the vast hold opened up in front of them. Surely it had been expanded.

"This way." Harry whispered, pointing along a raised walkway. "Draco, watch our back." Harry stalked forward, his wand out ahead of him. Hermione followed him. They passed a dark cage, inside it a gigantic black lump shifted near the back. Hermione tried to ignore it, the ones in the cages were the safe ones, it was the ones outside they had to watch out for. The cage ended and was replaced by another, six red eyes looked out from behind the bars. The three dog heads were pressed right up to the edge, watching them. Come to think of it the caged animals probably hadn't been fed in a while. Suddenly the pitching and rolling of the ship seemed worse. If she fell into one of the cages...

She spread her feet further apart, trying to get more stable. This was awful, this was hell, and they were going in to save some stupid smugglers. Bad people! Hermione didn't feel good for thinking like that. Not good at all. Harry suddenly raised a hand for them to stop.

"Get down." Harry hissed. "One of them's coming. From up ahead. It hasn't seen us."

Obviously it hadn't, they were invisible. But how had Harry seen _it?_ Hermione watched as Harry aimed his wand down the dark gangway, waited a long moment... and flicked it forward, muttering under his breath. The flash of green light was expected but still horrifying, flying into the darkness. For a moment it illuminated a rough lions mane and two shining eyes glowing green in the light. Then it snapped out and there was a dull thump like a body hitting the floor.

"One out of six." Harry murmured, then shuddered. "So that was the killing curse. Felt like drinking nightmares."

"Harry..." Padma began but Harry silenced her with a wave.

"It's just a tool." Harry shook himself. "Just a tool. Just a tool. Come on, lets keep going." Harry stepped forward, into the darkness.

Harry brought them to another staircase and quietly slinked down, his back pressed up to the wooden wall. As they crept down Harry held up a hand to stop again and dropped down to his knees.

"The other five are sleeping in there." Harry pointed down the stairs. "Round the corner, right in front of the storage room where the crew are barricaded."

Hermione didn't bother to ask how he knew.

"Now the hall opens up just round the corner." Harry sketched the curve of it with his hand. "We can hit them all before they even wake up. Draco, you kill the one up by the far left," Harry pointed straight into the wall. "Ginny, near the left wall. Hermione get the one right next to it, closer to us. Padma you get the one right in the middle, I'll get the one closest to the stairs. Got it? Everyone ready?"

Hermione was gripping her wand hard, her palms wet with sweat. She didn't feel ready but she nodded anyway. They shifted closer towards the corner. Harry held his hand up, three fingers. Two fingers. One...

Harry swung out around the edge, his wand coming up, at the same time his knees bent down. giving the rest of them a better shot. Hermione jumped out as fast as she could, the room was pitch black! How was she supposed to-

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ A blast of green light flew from Harry's wand, striking a dark shape on the ground and throwing the rest of the room into sharp shadows. Four sets of shining eyes perked up in the darkness. Each of them was exactly where Harry had said. Hermione aimed frantically,

"_A... Avada Kedavra!_" It felt like icicles were flickering down her arm, stabbing down her arm all the way down to her heart. Freezing deep into her chest, like terror. Then it was gone a moment later as the burning green light flew away, striking the manticore as it rose from the ground, throwing it back into the ground. At the same time she felt three more blasts of wind and flashes of dark magic fly out from beside her. A shattering crash of wooden splinters sounded and there was an angry inhuman roar. A shape unfurled like a spring and flew across the room towards them. Hermione felt her arm shooting up, too slowly! Too slow!

"_Excalabus!_"

A shining white light flashed across the wood and there was a screech like a saw across glass. She felt a spray of dark blood cover her and a heavy shape flew past her, impacting with a heavy thump against the back wall. She turned to it, not breathing. It was a manitcore, or half of one. It was sliced in two, the wound leaking a sea of blood into the floor. She turned back. Harry was standing over the other half, his wand surrounded by a glowing white nimbus, extending out like a flare. Like a sword. He flicked it off and the room became dark again.

"Who missed?" Harry's voice was low and hard.

"I did Harry." Draco shook his head. "It was too far away, too little light. I saw the eyes, I-"

"Practice." Harry cut him off and turned away from them. "Practice hard." As he walked away one of the hellhounds in a cage began barking and biting at the bars. It could smell the blood. Hermione tried to ignore it, tried to remember that the bars were reinforced. But it was hard. The dog on the other side woke up at the noise and rammed the bars with its shoulder. There was a screech of metal and the dog fell back.

Harry ignored the gigantic cerberus and walked calmly through the dark room to reach the small door at the end. He thumped it with his fist.

"Hey!" Harry yelled. "Humans in there get out. We've come to rescue you, except we don't want to see any wands and you'd better have your hands up!" There was a scraping sound as if huge crates were being moved. The dogs kept scraping against the bars, biting at the wood. Hermione tried to keep calm... tried to...

Oh no. No no no no no!

"Harry!"

"What?" Harry pushed the door open, revealing three disheveled and ragged men. "What is it?"

"Harry we need to go now!"

"Ok, ok. We got what we came for."

"NO! Harry the cages are built into the ship!"

"So?"

"You released the protective charms on the ship!"

Harry's face fell like a popped balloon. His eyes shot wide.

"So those bars are just..."

"Heavily corroded iron."

"God hates us." Harry whispered. "God hates us... RUN!"

At the moment Harry yelled the left hellhound took a running pounce and shattered through the bars straight a him.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry's wand had flicked up the instant it moved and the green light struck the massive muscled shape in the air. But it kept moving and fell like a stone onto Harry, like a mountain of black hair and sweating flesh. At the last moment he threw himself to the side and slid out from under it as it fell to the floor in a splintering explosion of wooden shrapnel.

"Well don't stand there run!" Harry yelled, pushing himself to his feet and waving them towards the door. He turned to the crewmen. "You too!"

The other hellhound had a bar in each mouth and was grinding them apart.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry shot at it. The spell smashed one of the bars into rusty shards. "Screw that! Just run!"

Hermione spun and dashed up the stairs. Behind her she could hear more running feet and the hideous gnashing of giant jaws. Someone pushed her to the side and she saw one of the scrawny crew members making a break up the stairs. She picked herself up and threw herself forward as fast as possible. She glanced behind her, all the marauders were cannoning along behind her. Harry was bringing up the rear, sending pulses of green nightmares behind him.

They reached the passage. She could see the door! The wall exploded in splinters and four muscled arms reached out to grab her.

"Avada Kedavra!" The spell came easier this time, freezing her to the core as even as it threw the wendigo back through the wall. In a way it made it easier, it made her numb. She felt someone shove her forward and realized she had been standing still. She dashed towards the door, trying to keep away from the buckling bars of the cages all around her. They could smell the blood.

"Hermione what the hell is going on!" Parvati yelled from the side of the door as she hurtled through.

"Just close it!" Her throat felt raw. "Close it!"

Hermione scrambled away down the corridor before turning and looking back. The raged crewmen were already huddling on this side of the door just as Ginny and Padma hurtled through with Draco right of their heels. Behind them the hold was a hellish nightmare of churning flesh, every dark shadow seemed to have a crawling beast. Harry was still in the corridor, retreating slowly as he threw spell after spell at the roaring mass.

"Harry just leave it!" Draco yelled. "Get back here!"

Harry spun and dashed for the door, the darkness following like a wave. Suddenly the cage in front of him exploded outwards, dark hair and scarred flesh coming between the marauders and Harry. Wooden sides of the cage buckled and broke, the roof came with it, filling the air with splinters and the passageway with heavy wooden spars. It was blocked.

"Close it!" Harry's voice shook the ship, amplified by magic. "I'll get out the other way."

Hermione froze. No, they couldn't. She saw Ginny glance down the corridor, then up at Draco. They both nodded.

"Close it." Ginny ordered, her voice raw.

"But..."

"CLOSE IT!" Ginny suited her words and flicked her wand at the heavy hatch, slamming it shut. "Hermione ward it!"

Hermione shook as she raised her wand. It took her three tries to properly seal the door up.

"Right, now get on the brooms." Ginny grabbed hers off her back. "We get to the other side of the ship and go in after Harry."

Of course! Hermione threw herself onto her broom. They could still go in and help him!

"You three with them!" Draco bellowed at the crew members, pointing at the Baker twins and Neville. "And stay quiet."

Hermione lifted off the floor and aimed up the hatch to the outside. The rain and wind hit her but she ignored them, they had to go help Harry! Suddenly the air was filled with a buffeting wall of sound. The night air was lit up with two twin eruptions of fire. Reflecting off the mountainous waves and painting them red like a sea of lava. Under her the ship lurched to the side, there was the sound of gushing water.

"Why did you blow it!" Someone yelled behind her. Hermione turned to see Ginny leant off her broom and grabbing Split by the front of his robe.

"I got the signal." The surprised boy shook his head. "I assumed it was you."

"What's going on?" Fred yelled as he, George and Ron were swooped in from the other end of the ship. "Did everyone get out?"

Oh Harry... we should have known.

Harry leapt from the top of the cage as it disappeared under the gushing water and grabbed the beam above him, swinging up onto it with all his strength. Something below him roared but he ignored it and dashed along the thin and shaking length of wood.

This was hell. This was his own personal hell. The water was coming in everywhere, gushing up through a thousand holes in the hold. And the creatures... Harry had had to order the hold sealed. If he hadn't they would have broken free. They were everywhere down here, he was sure that if they weren't trying to kill each other as hard as they were trying to eat him he would already be dead. In the water beneath him the dark head of a hellhound surfaced and gulped a barking breath before a crab like beast leapt from the shadows and slashed out it's eye. They both disappeared back under the black water, stained with blood, in a foaming maelstrom.

He had to get out of here. Harry's eyes frantically searched for some way... any way... out. The water was everywhere! The terror rose in Harry's throat. He couldn't think! Couldn't breath! NO! NO! Stay focused!

Harry leapt onto the top of another shifting cage, ignoring the floating corpse in the water nearby. There had to be some way! His eyes searched frantically but all there was was crashing water and writhing flesh. Harry was struck in the back by a gush of water, knocking him down to the metal bars below. He spun around and the waterfall struck him in the face, terror blindsided him again but he threw it down again. The gushing water was coming from a... pipe? A hole? A... feeding hole! Harry threw himself to the wall and clambered up a heaving beam, the ceiling right above him, he flicked his wand out,

"_Hammus Missus!_" The spinning conjured chain lashed out and stabbed into the pipe. Harry grabbed to and prayed that Hollywood got some things right. He let go of the wall. He swung out into the spray of gushing water and screamed as it splattered over his head. He was thrown out the other side but he came back just as fast. "This is ludicrous! _Arefacio!_" The waterfall dried up and he was able to climb a few feet up before it began gushing again.

A squawking terror exploded from the darkness to Harry's left. His wand was occupied but Harry clawed a gun from his pocket and fired wildly at the feathered beast. He didn't stop shooting until it disappeared into the water below. Harry stuck the gun in his waistband and cast the _Arfacio_ again. He was able to pull himself up another few feet before the water came again.

By the painfully slow stopping and starting he was able (just) to reach the pipe. He cast one more drought charm and reached as high as he could in the darkness, his fingers reached the edge. Harry dropped off the chain and pulled himself up with all his strength. The water struck his head just as he pulled himself up and beached himself on the pitching deck like a seal.

The ship was already mostly underwater, there was just the smallest, highest, portion left. Sinking fast. Where were the marauders? There! Up high!

"HEY!" Harry magically amplified his voice and shouted out over the water. "I'M HERE!"

The brooms dropped like stones, shooting right at him. Draco braked to a stop right in front of his face.

"You idiot!" He yelled, reaching out and pulling Harry onto his broom. "You complete idiot!"

"Shut up and fly!"

The light of dawn was just creeping over the horizon when they finally touched down back on land, a rough stony beach. Harry staggered onto solid ground and tried to get his balance back. He turned to the three disheveled crewmen.

"You three are going to leave now." He growled, raising his wand. "I don't care where you go. I risked my arse for you but it doesn't make you any less scum. Bare in mind that by failing to protect your ship you failed lord Voldemort, he's not going to be happy with you so if I were you I'd go far far away. Right now."

The three men broke and ran like scared rabbits. God knows where they ended up. Harry breathed out and turned back to the marauders.

"Good. That went well."

"Well!" Padma let out a strangled cry. "Everything that could possibly have gone wrong did go wrong!"

"And despite all that we stopped the shipment and made it out alive." Harry sat down on the hard ground and pushed the hair out of his eyes. God he was tired. "We have to assume that the odds will be stacked against us. We have to always bear that in mind, tonight was a good example. We have to be prepared for the _worst case scenario_, we met that tonight. And we did well tonight. We did, we really did. I'm proud of all of you."

The marauders all bowed their heads, they looked as tired as he felt. They were too tired to be proud right now. Too bad this wasn't over.

"Here," Harry drew his bottomless bag over and pulled a tent out of it. It raised itself with a tap of his wand and would fit half a house inside. "Get inside and get some sleep. We need to be ready in five hours."

"Five hours?" Ginny asked pointedly. "What happens in five hours?"

"Phase two of the plan. In _six_ hours will be when the ship was meant to come into port." Harry grinned evilly. "There will be a group of death eaters, five of them, waiting to welcome them in a hidden port site. Hidden... rocky... enclosed... good place for an ambush."

"We're ambushing them?" Draco asked disbelievingly. "Today?"

"Yes." Harry pushed himself from the floor. "Today. I mean Voldemort to feel the double whammy of the loss of his creatures and his death eaters all in one fell swoop. I mean to put to put the heat on him, really turn up the threat level you know... The creatures were the main thing, couldn't let them reach land. The death eaters are just the icing on the cake."

"Harry... are you sure?" Hermione stepped forward. "We're all tired already... we don't want any mistakes. Maybe we should let this one go."

"No." Harry shook his head. "We can't. We can't let this one go, or any of them for that matter. Now get on into the tent, you're wasting valuable resting time. I'll take the first watch. Go on, there are beds for everyone. Huge ones, this a really good tent."

Harry settled back down on his rock as the marauders trouped inside the tent. Harry sighed, if they didn't like phase two they definitely wouldn't like phase three.


	41. Changeling Child: 7

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 7: Frankenstein

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Please perform these basic safety checks before reading this chapter  
1)Make sure your chair is secure and steady so that if you faint you will not fall to the floor and risk head trauma.  
2)Make sure you are not in earshot of any children so when you let loose with a string of expletives it does not reach their tiny ears.  
3)Check your blood pressure. If it is significantly above average you may want to read this chapter in quick dashing distance of a defibrillator.  
4)Lock away all small objects you could throw at your computer screen.  
5)Pray.

This, boys and girls, is the big one...

* * *

Snape felt his mark burn in the middle of a potions lesson. That was worrying, Voldemort had always been careful of maintaining his cover. The mark burnt harder and Snape had to grit his teeth as the pain shot up his arm. This was very worrying.

"Are you alright Sir?" A Slytherin first year. No one but a Slytherin would have dared ask him. Snape lurched to his feet.

"Pack up your things. The lesson is over." He could not leave them unsupervised with potions ingredients. Snape hurried out the door, sending a rushed patronus to McGonagall saying that he had been called away suddenly. She would know what that meant. He felt compelled to at least keep the order informed, but he could not bring himself to contact Dumbledore directly. He sent a second patronus to Natalie and a third to Michelson for good measure.

He reached the main gate and stepped beyond the Hogwarts wards hesitantly. The tugging on his arm intensified and he let himself be pulled into the void by it, drawing him along until his feet touched ground. He glanced around, another dark place. A warehouse by the look of it, dust covered the wooden boxes stacked to the high ceiling. The rest of the death eaters were already there, standing in a rough circle. Only Bellatrix had kept her mask off, she usually did. Vanity no doubt. Vanity and a need to be seen. Snape stepped into his place in the circle and waited. He did not mask himself, he did not know why. Perhaps a whim.

But were they all there? Snape glanced back around the circle, only eight figures stood sentinel in there midnight robes. At the last meeting there had been fifteen. Snape had grown to the point where he could recognize each of the death eaters by shape alone beneath their masks. Who was missing? Dolohov, Corvidae, Avery Sr, Mulciber, the Carrows and Forneus. All death eaters that Voldemort could be said to trust, if he could be said to trust anyone. That all of they would be missing at the same time... it was very worrying.

"Do not worry yourselves." The voice of Voldemort came from the air between two stacks of crates. A moment later he himself strode out, his red eyes flashing first to one of them, then to another. "Your brothers will join us soon. And with them they will bring glad news. Wait my friends, wait with patience."

Snape shifted his stance. The shipment was here, that could be the only news that would put Voldemort in such a glad mood. Snape made ready to memorize any detail that he could glean when the seven death eaters appeared. Any tiny fact that might help to at least somewhat reduce the damage.

Reduce the damage... that was a joke. Reduce it from a catastrophe to a disaster.

He was broken out of his thoughts be a loud crack. He turned to see Forneus stumble forward from his apparition point. His black robes were streaked with mud and sand and were torn raged. He collapsed near the edge of the circle, his arms out entreatingly towards the dark lord.

"Master!" He gulped, his voice full of fear. "We were attacked. Spells out of nowhere, _hundreds_ of them. We could not hold them back."

"What?" Voldemort whirled on the prostrate wizard.

"They were waiting for us. Waiting at the dock." Forneus ducked his head to the floor. "I was the only one to esc-"

"Look me in the eye!" Voldemort hissed, Forneus was dragged to his feet by an invisible force. "Look your Lord in the eye when you admit your _failure_."

"There was nothing we could do my lord." Forneus cringed. "They must have known about-"

"_Crucio!_"

Snape watched as the white haired death eater writhed on the floor. How had this happened? Not the order, he would have been able to tell if this kind of large scale operation was in the offing. The ministry... that was just laughable. So that left... Harry Potter. This was done by Harry Potter. Snape kept his face impassive as his stomach did cartwheels. Harry was alive, fighting and apparently capable of fighting seven death eaters all in one morning. But Forneus had said there were many of them... well that explained the absences in his morning class.

The dark lord whipped his wand back, Forneus stopped shaking and instead started whimpering.

"Up Foerneus. Up!" Voldemort dragged the cringing death eater to his feet again. "I expect more from one of my oldest servants."

"Please... please..."

"What of my ship Forneus?" Voldemort stepped forwards. "Where are my creatures?"

"I... I do not know my Lord." Forneus squeezed his eyes shut. "It was not in the harbor. It was not in the bay beyond. I think perhaps... If they knew where we would be then they probably also knew about the ship. I suspect... I think... the ship may be no more my lord."

"No more?" Voldeomort repeated coldly. "No more Forneus? My shipment... my creatures... is no more?"

"I do not know my lord." Forneus ducked his head. "They were not at the harbor."

"You mean it is at the bottom of the ocean." Voldemort's voice was at it's most icy and smooth. "You mean to tell me that my creatures, that I bought with good gold and solemn promises of further gold are dead."

"I do not know my lord."

"You do not _know_." Voldemort snarled. "You do not _know! Crucio!_"

Snape tried to remain calm. What plans would this change? How did this affect things...

"Please master..." Forneus was trying to speak through gritted teeth. "There was nothing we could do."

"Who did this?" Voldemort snapped suddenly. "Who is responsible? Speak!"

"I did not see." Forneus whimpered. "They were hiding... I did not see their faces. They were everywhere but hidden. They was nothing I could identify-"

"Let me be the judge of that." Voldemort raised his wand again. "_Legilimens!_"

Snape watched as the two wizards remained with locked eyes for moments, then minutes. Snape was beginning to wonder what was happening when Voldemort looked away, his brow creasing.

"Your memories have been altered." Voldemort said quietly. In anyone else Snape would have thought he was worried. "Your memories have been altered. Inexpertly, but they clearly have been."

"You... Do you think the ship may still be there my lord?" Forneus asked hurriedly.

"No." Voldemort tapped the side of his chin thoughtfully. "Your memories are your own until you remember apparating away from the fight. I suspect that you did not. I suspect you were captured and whatever was done to you was done then. You were then _allowed_ to escape. They probably thought to follow you here. Foolish. No spell could track you here, I have warded this place against tracking spells."

Snape began to feel nervous. Harry was far from a fool, what was his plan here?

"Stay still!" Voldemort snapped at Forneus. He flicked his wand at the death eater. Nothing happened. Voldemort frowned. "No tracking spells of any kind... interesting. Turn out you pockets!"

Forneus quivered as he reached into first one dark pocket of his robes, then another. As his hand reached his inside pocket he froze.

"My lord... there is something here." He slowly drew out a flat black box, the size of a pack of cards. A little red light blinked on its surface. Forneus held it out for the dark lord. Voldemort made no move to take it but instead examined it dispassionately from where he stood.

"Interesting..." Was all the dark lord said.

Snape felt like chuckling. Voldemort clearly had not the faintest idea what that was. Neither did Snape but at least he could recognize that it was muggle technology. What could it be for? The blinking light was like a vengeful eye but it did not seem to be a weapon...

Ginny dropped off her broom and hastily stowed it in a carry case before shoving it under a cloak with the others. She checked herself to make sure no toe or lock or hair had fallen outside her own cloak... no. Good. She motioned the others to follow her as they snuck up to a chain gate. Beyond were two lined of decrepit muggle warehouses, some of them with the roofs fallen in. Harry eased up to the gate, his eyes darting down to a small device he held nestled in his hand.

"This is it." Harry nodded. "They're here. In the third one down on the left."

"Are you sure Harry?" She whispered. It wasn't that she didn't trust Harry, it was this muggle elec-tricks. Surely it couldn't be as reliable as a tracking charm. She glanced down at the bright screen on the device Harry was holding and tried to link it back to her muggle studies lessons. The thing was pretty complex, more complex than a clock. There must have been _hundreds_ of gears inside. Ginny wondered how often it had to be wound. Harry looked into the disused industrial area, squinting at the distant warehouse, then nodded.

"I'm sure. Can't you feel the wards around this place? Give me a minute and I'll break us a way through."

Ginny tried to make herself breath as Harry knelt down and drew his wand, drawing it through the air as if trying to catch flies. She turned to the marauders and took a deep breath.

"Alright," She began under her breath. It was hard enough making speeches, it was worse when you could only see people as ghostly shadows. "Today is the day. This is it. This is what we've been training towards. We all knew it would come to this, some of us hoped it would be further away, but it's not. It's now." Ginny herself had been shocked when Harry outlined his plan, his plan to end it today. She had wanted to stop him, wanted to slap him down when he said that this was the best chance they would get. The problem was he was right. She should tell them that Ginny realized,

"Harry's right, this is as good a chance as we'll ever get. Voldemort's weak, Voldemort is running low on servants. We have the advantage of numbers and the element of surprise. They've got lord Voldemort, but we've got Harry Potter..." Ginny broke off, looking into their wide eyed faces "I know you're scared... I know that maybe, deep down, we all hoped we wouldn't have to face Voldemort himself. But we are, and by doing it we can end this here and now. We can save _thousands_ of lives today. Today is the day. We've been an army for a long while now, we've been soldiers. But today, today we're heroes. If we pull this off, one last masterpiece of marauder mayhem. We. Will. Be. Heroes. Get ready to fight, you know what to do."

As if on cue Harry chuckled triumphantly and pushed the gate open a fraction. He slid inside and motioned the others to come after him. Ginny swallowed and followed him in.

"Whatever this device is supposed to do it is clearly faulty." Voldemort snorted contemptuously and knocked the black device onto the floor. "Foolish of them to rely on muggle devices. Idiotic."

A rough chuckle went around the circle of wizards. Snape faked laughter even as he continued to stare at the box. The red light was still blinking. Voldemort licked his lips and sucked it air in a serpentine hiss.

"A setback." He said, apparently having recover his composure. "A momentary setback. We are still the greatest wizards alive, possessing powers the muggle loving fools in the order could not even comprehend. I shall triumph."

"Master..."

"We wield the dark magics, the only true power! Trust in your lord and we will prevail."

"Master I have-"

"Forneus?" Voldemort turned on the cowering wizard. "You dare interrupt your master? You _dare_ even after you have humiliated yourself so?"

"No my lord," Forneus bowed his head. "It's just... I have found a second device." He held it up for Voldemort to see. The dark lord took it unworriedly.

"Ha, how droll." Voldemort held the thing out for all the death eaters to see and laughed. "They have sent me a block of clay. Perhaps this is their idea of a joke."

Snape was not totally unaware of muggle technology and felt a strong urge to drop to the floor.

Harry watched as Voldemort raised the bomb above his head. He glanced to either side, there were marauders poised at each door and her knew there were more at every other entrance. He looked back to the death eaters, Snape was with them but... standing far enough away. He probably wouldn't be killed. Harry closed his eyes, Snape would understand.

Harry drew the detonator out of his robes. Hopefully this could be ended right now. With luck even if Voldemort realized what was happening he wouldn't be able to shield fast enough. The war could end there and then.

"I do have a power you know not." Harry muttered under his breath. "Turns out it goes boom."

He clicked up the cover on the detonator, and pressed the switch.

"Master no!" Rookwood suddenly yelled, whipping his wand out. Every eye flicked to him, even Voldemort's. "_Protego!_"

Even as the shining shield slid between the dark lord and the bomb there was an earth-shattering crack and Snape was hit by a wall of noise and light. He was lifted off his feet and thrown painfully against a crate. His ears were full of only ringing and he fell in curious detachment, not even hearing the thump as his own body crash onto the floor. Through the fog of noise and tried to move his legs, painful but unbroken, then his arms. He got to his feet, blinking as everything swam before his eyes. He raised his wand to his face and tried to fix his vision. It wasn't perfect but even the imperfect view before him shocked him to his core.

Flames licked every crate as the explosion had thrown burning shards across the entire warehouse. He could see the death eaters running about in a mad, silent, panic, their mouths open in screams of pain. Snape raised his wand to his ear and hesitantly muttered a healing charm. The shocking klaxon call of screams almost made him regret doing so. Nott ran past him, his very robes ablaze on his back. Snape ignored him, if anyone noticed his uncaring attitude to a fellow death eater they would just attribute it to shock. Voldemort himself was nowhere to be seen. Snape stumbled forward, stepping over a prone body, his head still full of fuzz.

"_Stupefy!_" The shot came out of nowhere, striking the flaming figure of Nott and throwing him to the floor. Snape had his own wand out but the stunners were flying faster, from everywhere. Snape's head ached, he couldn't keep up with this.

"_Bhraanti taraGga urvii ca agni!_" The dark spell exploded out of the earth, throwing boxes away and tearing the concrete underfoot in a burning conflagration. Voldemort appeared out of the smoke in the center of it, his arms raised as the power of the spell coursed through him. The shattering ground expanded in every direction, clearing a space in the dark warehouse. Voldemort finally let his arms fall, his eyes still blazing with power. He pointed at three cowering death eaters with his clawed hand. "You! Make a baracade there! Bella, the same there! They have surrounded us and warded this place against apparition, but we will cut them down! They will rue the day they chose to fight me!"

Snape felt his muscles moving dully as he moved to help levitate the crates into a barrier. The stunners were already flying again. The best thing was to stay silent, wait for his chance.

"Damnit!" Harry threw himself behind a pile of boxes as a killing curse burned through the air where he had just been. He rolled and came up next to where Draco was peering out the corner of a pile of sacks. Harry spun out around the corner and took in the barrier of crates. He was invisible but there was so much smoke-

"_Avada kedavra!_"

Harry spun a crate into the path of the spell then banished it against the barricade. It exploded, raining beans over the death eaters.

"_Galbinus digitus!_" Harry whipped his wand at the green shower and vines shot out of the dried husks, binding the two wizards into suffocating heaps. Harry darted back behind the sacks as spells began to rain down on the spot he had been standing.

"Got them?" Draco yelled at him.

"Think so! How many do you-" Harry was cut off as the ground before them raised up in a roaring crash. Two massive diamond eyes fractured open in grey stone and two arms erupted up beside the creature. It punched into the ground and the two marauders were thrown back.

"_Reducto!_" Harry aimed at one stony eye but the spell just bounced off.

"_Avada kedavra!_" Draco called out desperately as they scrambled away, the curse left a massive crack through the thing's front but it did not stop it's advance. It raised it's arm like a hammer,

"_Excalabus!_" The shining sword crew out of nothing and sliced the golem's arm off at the elbow making it roar in pain. Harry slashed through it's body and jumped away as it crumbled into dust.

"That was Voldemort's work." Draco panted.

"Oh really ya think?" Harry glanced around for a means to attack. "They're all in one place. We're strung out over the whole bloody warehouse. He can pick us off one by one like this, invisible or not!"

"You think we should form up?" Draco held his wand out ready.

"No, they'll just escape the other way." Harry ground his teeth together.

"Maybe the aurors will get here soon." Malfoy had to duck as a spell pin-wheeled over his head. "Or the order."

"Can't bank on a maybe!" Harry glanced up and got an idea. "Hold the line, I'm going to break them up."

Snape saw a shadowy figure dashing through the smoke and aimed just behind it. This was madness, pure madness. Without Voldemort the death eaters would have fallen at the first volley, blinded and burned as they were, but with him they were holding their own against the ghost army raining spells down on them from all directions. There was no telling where the next attack would come from, even the barricades were scant protection. And all the while the heat from the burning building all around charring into his skin. Being stuck in the middle of all that and not really being part of either side... madness.

Snape hoped that perhaps Harry's invisible army would recognize him but he couldn't count on it. If he could count on not being noticed he could try stunning himself, but then he wouldn't be there to help Harry if something went wrong. Snape shielded himself from a barrage of stunners and cried in pain as a red-hot scrap of metal dropped onto him from above. He looked up in time to see a spray of sparks dislodge from the roof far above then yelled despite himself as the metal twisted inwards and Harry dropped like a diving hawk into the middle of the death eaters.

His boots struck Bellatrix in the face just as she looked up and drove her to the floor with a bone-splitting crunch. Harry rolled like and came up in a moment slashing his wand like a sword, there was a flash of white light and Rodolphus was opened from hip to neck. He went down spraying red blood across his attacker but Harry had already whirled and blew one of the barricades to smithereens.

"_Avada kedavra!_"

Harry ducked the curse and shot back but he was in the middle of the death eaters now. Exactly what he wanted, Snape realized in flashing moment. He's providing a distraction for the others to attack. The problem was he would probably die to accomplish it. Snape raised his wand to help Harry but there was a sudden crack of black light and he felt pain invade every limb. An orb of darkness spun through the air towards Harry. Harry dodged wildly but there were too many other spells flying and it exploded in the air next to him. Driving him sprawling to the floor. Snape shuddered, he had just experienced the backwash of the spell and he felt like he had been kicked in the head by a horse. What Harry must be feeling he could not imagine.

"Protect us!" Voldemort snapped, his wand still smoking from the powerful curse. "I will deal with the boy."

Snape turned to make it look like he was complying but kept watch as the dark lord stepped up closer to Harry. Voldemort held out a hand and summoned Harry's wand to him.

"Very brave Mr Potter." Voldemort raised his wand. "And very foolish. You must forgive me but I don't have time to have one of our traditional chats. _Avada-_"

"_Avada kedavra!_" Harry threw his left arm up as he shouted the unforgivable. The mocking laugh died on Voldemort's lips as Harry's hand exploded in green light.

The spell flashed through the air towards the shocked dark lord. Snape watched as if in slow motion as Voldemort's hand flew into his robes and gripped around something. The very moment before the green bolt struck him he disappeared. The spell slashed across the circle and struck Rosier in the chest, catapulting his corpse into the wall.

"Lord!" Forneus' strangled voice sounded out as she rushed forward. Harry had fallen on his side cradling his hand in agony but at the death eater's cry he unfurled and thrust his hand forward,

"_Avada Kedavra!_" The green bolt flashed towards the old death eater but he threw himself to one side and screamed a curse. A purple bolt flicked off the end towards Harry but he frantically waved another death eater into the path of the spell then banished the screaming figure so that it crashed into Forneus' face.

"Kill him!" Someone yelled and Snape realized that the other death eaters were turning on Harry with rictus snarls of vengeful fury. Snape's gaze flicked from the death eaters charging to Harry, raising his arm again, and decided in a moment.

"_Stupefy!_" Snape's stunner jammed Goyle's head back with a sickening crunch.

"Traitor!" Forneus was rising from the floor with his wand pointed in recrimination. "_Crucio!_"

Snape ducked the spell and darted over to stand shoulder to shoulder with Harry.

"_Incendio!_"

Snape shielded without thinking and the flaming spell was absorbed into the general inferno.

"_Tempesto!_" Harry screamed, his voice twisted with pain, and waved his hand in a whirling arch. A wind sprung from empty air and drew the flaming wood into a spinning tornado of hellfire. Harry pointed and flung the firestorm at the death eaters, scattering them like rabbits. Harry spun on Snape in the short time that had gained them.

"Why did you break cover?" He yelled, swooping to grab a fallen wand. "They all saw you! Idiot!"

"No more idiot than you for coming here!" Snape shot back as he sent a stunner at a stumbling shape in the flames. "Rushing in like a fool! You are doing exactly what I said you would!"

"I had a plan!" Harry growled at him. "And it would have bloody worked if Voldemort hadn't had an emergency portkey!"

"You risked your life!"

"Mine to risk!"

"As is my cover!" Snape glared into the smoke but the other death eaters seemed to be trying to escape rather than fight.

"They're trying to escape." Harry confirmed it and began advancing after them. His wand outstretched as he marched into the smoke. "The aurors have broken in too now. We can trap them between us."

"Harry how have you been casting spells?" Snape hurried after him, his wand flicking towards every hint of motion.

"Wandlessly obviously."

"Harry wandless magic is beyond you." Snape grated, it was the simple truth. "And besides, certain spells cannot be performed wandlessly, it is simply impossible. The unforgivables are among them."

"Impossible for regular people." Harry flashed a rictus grin through the murk.

"Harry, your hand!" Snape cried as he saw it clearly for the first time. He grabbed the arm, his eyes wide with horror. The middle finger was burnt down to a stub and his index finger was gone to the second knuckle. The entire rest of the hand was shrivelled and charred, as if it was burning from the inside out. It was boiling to the touch. "Harry what have you done!"

"What I had to!" Harry pulled his ruined hand back and held it painfully to his chest. "I'm the boy who lived, the bloody chosen one! Come on, they're this way."

Wondering how Harry knew Snape followed him into the murk.

"What is the situation?" Shacklebolt yelled as he dashed up to the side of the flaming building. Ginny turned and almost felt like hugging him. So recrimination, no asking why they were there, no telling them off, just straight to business. This must be why dad looked up to him.

"There were eight death eaters inside, at least three dead now." Ginny rattled off. "Voldemort too. They were barricaded in the middle but Harry scattered them. We haven't seen Voldemort himself since then but some of the others are still in there. Some of our people too, invisible."

"Voldemort's gone." Shacklebolt supplied. "Unregistered portkey. Fletcher, take your team to the west entrance-"

Ginny stepped back towards the building and grabbed the invisible Baker twins who were standing with her.

"We're getting everyone out, all our people." She motioned one of them to each end of the building. "We got them, we won."

"Harry give up!" Snape yelled as Harry had to jump out of the way of a collapsing pile of burning boxes. "You could be killed here!"

"They're still in here!" Harry forged onwards into the murk.

"Fool boy!" Snape's robe caught fire and he threw it off angrily before rushing forward. He grabbed Harry around the arm only to be shook off. "They will all be dead or gone by now!"

"Two of them are still in here!" Harry pointed with his ravaged hand. "They're over there!"

"The aurors will get them."

"You don't know that!" Harry staggered a few more steps before keeling over and retching onto the floor. Snape shied away, for a moment unsure of what to do. The only thing in his mind was an idle interest in the fact that the vomit was steaming as it hit the floor. Harry stumbled to his feet and Snape hissed in shock, Harry's eyes were running red with blood.

"Harry something is wrong with you." Snape stepped forward carefully. "Something is clearly wrong. You need a healer."

"I can't leave yet!"

"The aurors will-"

"No!" Harry turned and dashed into the smoke. Snape heard a monumental crack from above and swung his wand up, not fast enough. The wooden beam struck Harry in the back and drove him down, knocking him out and pinning him to the floor. Snape dashed forward, for once not even thinking of his wand, and shoved the beam off with all his strength. It thudded onto the floor and Snape rolled Harry onto his back. Blood was running down the poor boys haggard face.

"Oh Harry... why? You fool..." Snape felt rising anger. None of it directed at Harry. "You didn't have to do this. You didn't have to do any of this. You did not have to destroy yourself... Damn you Dumbledore!" He slammed his fist into the cracked ground and bowed his head. He didn't even notice the second beam before in struck him on the back and drove him from consciousness.

And all around the fire raged.

"Are all of your people out." Shacklebolt yelled at Ginny.

"Not Harry." Ginny frantically glanced back into the blaze. "He's still in there." She saw Shacklebolt's face fall.

"The building is not going to last much longer."

"Gone on Harry." Ginny felt herself whispering. "Come on..."

The watcher scrabbled through the flaming warehouse. He had come following the aurors, come hoping to kill more death eaters. Cause pain to the snake-one. Cause pain to _Tom Riddle_. But all he had found was flames, flames and death.

His eyes darted around, trying to find a way out. If he was trapped here both he and Smoky would be killed. His fingers idly caressed Smoky's scales where she hid in his sleeve. Maybe Smoky could hide in one of the grates in the floor, but he would die for sure. And if he died he would never get his revenge.

Sweet sweet revenge... He took a moment to savour the thought as the flames licked at his legs.

What was that? A hole in the floor, one of the muggle ones. A way out. He shuffled towards it and flicked the cover off with his wand. As he was about to lower himself into it he froze. Just nearby were two figures pinned to the ground by a beam. One he didn't recognize, but the other... The other was the fighter-boy the one who had reached the servants of the snake-one before him. He fought the snake-one, _Tom Riddle_, the thief of life, the trickster, the face-stealer, the- He shook his head as the list of hatred raged through his mind.

He lifted the piece of wood off easily with a spell and regarded them through his fading eyes. He did not remember caring about anyone, even before the _snake-one_ did things to him. But these also fought the snake-one. And so maybe they shouldn't die. Maybe not.

He levitated them off the ground and scuttled to a faded window and threw them through the glass. There were shouts from outside and he could see the robed men clustering around them. The robed men couldn't see him though. He scuttled back to the hole in the floor and lowered himself in.

They couldn't catch him yet.

He still had killing to do.

Harry stood in the apple orchard again. The leaves turned brown for the season, the ground wet with dew. In every direction it stretched, impossibly deep.

"Why am I here?" Harry tried to say, but his mouth wouldn't make sound. His throat was closed.

_What is this place?_

Harry turned on his heel and there was the edge of the trees, just paces away. And beyond it... nothing. The world just dropped away as if the trees were the only real thing.

The sound of the river raged in his ears, filling him with fear. He ran from the edge, back into the safety of the trees, back into the real part. But it was crumbling now, he could see the edge crumbling away and yet somehow never getting closer. Always falling apart but staying where it was.

_What is this place?_

Harry hugged his arms to his chest. This was a dream, this was only a dream.

_Then why does it feel like this is the only thing that's real?_

"He's awake."

Draco dropped off his hospital bed at the sound of the healers voice and hurried up to the side of Harry's bed. Most of the other marauders clustered around with him. The Weasley twins and Parvati were all in their own beds, kept mercifully unconscious while their injuries healed. They had all been hurt when they managed to drag themselves out of that inferno, it was a small miracle none of them were dead. No... not a miracle, they had trained, they had prepared. That was the reason they were still alive. Not a miracle.

Draco looked down at his friend, lying pale and wan on the hospital sheets. His eyes had cracked open, but he still wasn't moving.

"Welcome back Harry." Hermione grasped Harry's hand encouragingly. "Don't try to talk yet the doctors said you were really sick."

"... ah..." Harry licked his lips and tried again. "... Volde... mort..."

"He got away." Ginny supplied. Harry squeezed his eyes shut, a frustrated moan broke out from somewhere in his chest.

"Don't feel bad mate." Ron was clearly trying to sound upbeat. Idiot. "Only three death eaters got away. We got all the rest, all of them."

"Who...?" Harry's question was hissed out through obvious pain.

"Well, there was Rookwood." Padma began, counting off on her fingers. "He managed to slip past the aurors. Forneus too."

"Three..."

"And..." Padma's eyes flickered towards Neville. "And Bellatrix."

"Bella..." Harry's face contorted into a snarl. "Got her... Could swear I got-"

"You did Harry." Ginny picked up a glass of water and slowly helped Harry to drink from it. "The aurors were dragging her out but she came to in their arms, killed one of them with her bare hands and dissapperated with his wand."

"Killed? He died?" Harry's voice seemed to be coming a bit easier now but it was still at the edge of weakness.

"Yes. The only auror, order member or marauder to die yesterday." Draco supplied, he could see Ginny's head bowing. She couldn't possibly feel guilty could she? The man had let an unconscious prisoner rip out his windpipe. It was tragic, but it was no ones fault but his own. Harry certainly wouldn't feel guilty.

"We got the rest though didn't we?" Harry asked, glancing down at his bandaged hand.

"Most of them are dead." Draco supplied. "Those who didn't die in the fight died in the fire."

"Gibbons died." Neville said quietly. "I saw the aurors pulling him out. Someone should tell Vanessa. She deserves to know her father's dead. Even if he was... well you know."

"If it was me I'd be disappointed I wasn't the one to kill him." Harry said quietly, still staring at his bandaged hand.

"Harry, your hand..." Hermione brought it up and there was an instant cooling among the marauders. No one had wanted to be the one to ask Harry about it. "Your hand it..."

"Injured, I know." Harry looked over at it dully. "Can the healers fix it?"

"They... they can grow the fingers back Harry but-"

"Perfect, that's fine then."

"But how did it happen in the first place?" Hermione looked like she was trying to avoid actually looking at the hand. "Snape said you used a wandless killing curse which is impossible-"

"Apparently not." Harry cut her off. "If they can fix me then why haven't they started? I need my hand back, Voldemort could retaliate at any moment."

"Harry..." Hermione looked around, perhaps looking for backup. Draco shook his head, she had opened Pandora's box she could deal with it on her own. "Harry the hand isn't the only thing wrong with you."

"Some sort of curse or something?"

"No, at least... they don't think so."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well-" Hermione began but was cut off as a voice said,

"Let me explain." Draco looked towards the sound to see Snape striding in through the door. The marauders made way for him as he moved to the foot of Harry's bed. A white bandage encircled his forehead but he didn't seem to notice it. Snape nodded towards Harry's ruined hand. "I think I understand now. That was a _Shén de shou_ wasn't it?"

No. No Harry oh god no! Draco felt some horrific cocktail of rage, fear and pity grow in his chest. He didn't, he couldn't have. But Draco knew in his heart that he could.

"By the fact that you're asking you already know that the answer is yes so why bother." Harry replied coldly.

"Harry you are twice the fool I ever named you." Snape bowed his head, his eyes closed. "That you would do this..."

"Do what?" Ginny broke in. "Do what? What's a... Shin-de-show?"

"_Shén de shou_, a god-hand." Draco supplied, finding that his voice was almost tinged with tears. "It's an operation, originating in china, they insert wand cores into the bones of your hand. Surgically." There was a gasp from the marauder's but Draco carried on. It felt better if they knew it too, like the horror was more spread out. "It's outlawed everywhere in the world. It is _insanely_ dangerous, even when they are done right they damage the user since the magic has to force it's way out through flesh and skin. And casting a curse as powerful as the killing curse? He's lucky he still has an arm."

"I wasn't planning on using it levitate feathers." Harry said acidly. "It was a weapon of last resort, and it worked. I saved myself and almost killed Voldemort."

"If it were only that simple Harry." Snape still wasn't looking Harry in the eye. "Your _Shén de shou_ may have been installed properly, it may not have been. Either way it would not account for all of your symptoms. And yes Harry, you have _many_ symptoms. The healers found infections in your blood, some new and some just remnants. You have been sick all year haven't you? Keeping yourself going with pep-up potion as you reeled from one illness after another. And now they have all caught up with you."

He was sick. Malfoy felt dread rise in his stomach. He was sick right at the start of the year and I did nothing... I could have prevented this.

"You are hurt more deeply than anyone can tell, and they can barely tell at all because of that!" Snape pointed at the faded and chipped bracer around Harry's arm. "You have it charmed so that none but you can remove it. Your paranoia is killing you since the evil eye prevents the healers from telling what is actually wrong with you. A fact I think you know, a fact I think you know very well. You do not want anyone to know what was going on inside you. You got the Shén de shou Harry Potter, but what else did you get? You came back after a summer's time and suddenly you stand toe to toe with death eaters? People who have spent their lives learning the blackest of arts? No... no... You did not simply _train_ over the summer months. What else festers under your skin? What else have you done _to yourself!_"

The silence in the room was solid as granite, and as harsh. Harry licked his lips before answering slowly, measuredly,

"If I answered you, you would have the healers remove what I had put in."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To save your life." Snape was virtually shaking.

"My life's worth nothing if Voldemort's around." Harry shook his head. "Afterwards. I'll kill Voldemort _then_ the stuff comes out. Until then I need it."

"Afterwards? _Afterwards?_" A tear squeezed out of the corner of Snape's eye, shocking everyone. It might have been a tear of rage, it might not. "Harry by then it may be too late! The healers say that you have months, half a year at _very_ best, if we do not do something."

"And look what I've done with a year!" Harry yelled angrily. "I've pushed Voldemort back to the brink! How many death eaters does he have left? _FOUR!_ Down from what? Twenty? Thirty? I knew I wouldn't have much time. I accepted that my lifespan would be severally cut, but I have taken my lifespan and beaten that snake faced wanker around the head with it! He is hanging by a thread thanks to me! I am the only one who can defeat Voldemort! The _ONLY ONE!_ You know that! The freaking _chosen one_, I had to do this. I had to! There was _NO OTHER WAY!_ No way for me to win, not against him. I needed every advantage I could find so, god help me, I went out and found some advantages. I had to. And if it means I win my big prophesied fight against the bastard? Then I made the right call. And if I don't? Then it won't matter anyway."

Harry cut off, his chest rising and falling sharply, showing how much his speech had taken out of his injured frame. Snape was just standing there, his face an indescribable mask of sorrow. Another tear, and another. Professor Snape looked like a man who had had a knife stuck through him, impaling his heart.

"Back on the ship." Padma's whispering voice cut through the silence like a siren. "Back on the ship you knew where the crew were. You knew where the creatures were. You even knew where the ship was in the middle of the night on a stormy sea. You knew where we were too. You put the glasses in your pocket, I never saw you put them on. We were _invisible_, but not to you. Oh god Harry... tell me you didn't. Tell me..." Padma reached a hand forward, up towards Harry's face. Harry didn't flinch back even as her long fingernail reached up close and tapped his eye.

The unmistakable chink of glass was like a death toll.

"Your eye..." Hermione breathed, every reverb of her voice begging it not to be true. "You... you cut out your eye?"

"No, guy at the shop did it." Harry tried to beat Padma's hand away but clearly didn't have the strength. "Don't you all look at me like that. I saw how useful Moody's was and got one for myself. This one's better though, it can look anywhere, out the back of my head and all but it's charmed to look like it's pointing the same way as the other one. So no one ever knows. It's been useful, more than useful. You can't tell me it hasn't." Harry's voice had grown more shrill as he spoke.

"But... your eye." Hermione shuddered, her hand involuntarily flinched up to her face. "How could you?"

Draco felt bile rise like a volcano. Just the thought of tearing out his own eye made him sick. What frozen and horrific will would it take to willingly chose that self-mutilation. For the first time that year, Draco began to fear Harry a little.

"Don't look at me like that." Harry was shying away from their stares, pushing back into the bed. "What... Don't! Don't look at me like you don't know why I did this! Don't look at me like you don't understand. I had to!"

The desperation in his voice. The _need_ for them to understand, to justify what he had done. Draco shuddered. In Harry's place would he have done the same? He honestly couldn't guess. No one could. Draco cleared his throat,

"Harry, I can't guess why you chose to do this. But you need to let the healers fix you now."

"Draco, I... you too?" Harry seemed very small in that moment. Very lost.

"Please let them fix you Harry." Draco felt a small hand grasp his and glanced to the side to see Ginny. Offering support. A good friend. Thank you. "You might now even need this stuff anymore. Voldemort is weak, maybe-"

"_Maybe!" Harry snapped. "_Maybe, maybe MAYBE! That's all I've heard all year! I won't trust to hope! It's too important."

"Harry please..." Draco's throat felt like it was closing up. "Please... you may not understand just how much damage you're doing to yourself. Waiting a few weeks even could-"

"Defeat Voldemort." Harry said coldly. "I've made my choice. Tell the healers to fix my hand, just the hand. You don't think I wish it was different? I do. But some bastard _prophecy_ had the gall to set my life in motion long before I had any say in it. I have to win. I have to win even if I die because nothing else matters. Turns out this fight was what I was born for and I'll burn myself from the inside out before I lose to that snake-faced bastard. I have to win. Even if I die."

Draco stepped back from the bed. The horrible certainty in Harry's voice was shocking. He had accepted his fate down to his bones. He had drunk it in till it was the very core of his being. Was Harry even in there any more?

Draco was shocked out of his thoughts by a small sound. It took him a moment to recognize it, but when he did it surprised him once more. Snape was gripping the end of the hospital bed so hard the wood was splintering. When Draco looked up at the potions master's face he almost cried out in fear. The most terrible dark rage Draco had ever seen was painted across Snape's face, etched in every line and crease. The dark shadows in his eyes were seething pools of suppressed fury. Suddenly Snape let out an almost inhuman growl and disapperated on the spot, tearing a piece of the bed away with him.

No thought entered the red fog of Snape's mind as he strode towards the gates of Hogwarts. His wand whipped out and the vast doors were thrown back with a rumbling crash that shook the castle. He could not care less if the whole building fell down. Minerva hurried towards him,

"Severus what is the meaning of this?"

"I am going to see the headmaster." Snape didn't slow, forcing Minerva to jump out of his way. He was too angry to care. He saw the gargoyle statue ahead of him and forced the password out through gritted teeth. He rode the stairs up listening to his own racing heartbeat in his ears. The stairs ground to a halt and Snape slammed the door open. Dumbledore looked up in shock from the papers in front of him as Snape strode up to him and slammed his fists down of the surface of the desk.

"Harry is in St Mungos." He had no idea how to give voice to the thought inside him, they were too many and too powerful.

"I know that Severus." Dumbledore replied coldly. "But you are no longer a member of the order so-"

"Do you know why Harry is in St Mungos?" Snape tried to breath evenly. "Because, in an effort to fulfill your _precious_ prophecy, he found some black market flesh monger that would fit him with a _Shén de shou_."

"A _Sh..._" Dumbledore's eyes widened. "My god... he could have killed himself..."

"Yes." Snape could fell his fingernails biting into his palms. "But not just that, he had his own eye cut out to fit a magical one. Those and _who knows_ what other mutilations are slowly destroying him. He is going to die because of them. Because of the prophecy. Because of _you!_"

Dumbledore was staring off into the distance, he looked like his soul was being torn out. Good.

"The boy destroys himself, tears himself apart. He is ready to die, because of the _prophecy_." Snape drew his face down level with Dumbledore's. "I think it's time he learnt the truth. Don't you?"

"Severus..."

"You tell him." Snape held a shaking finger up. "I will give you one chance to tell him, to assuage some of your guilt with honesty. But rest assured, if you do not tell him, I will. This lie has poisoned too much already."

"You realize..." Dumbledore spoke as if from within a fog. "That the truth may break him?"

"No more than the lie has."

"Perhaps." Dumbledore stood, leaning heavily on his desk. He seemed... ancient. Ancient and tired. "I will tell him now. Which room is he in?"

Harry glanced up as the hospital door was pushed open and Dumbledore stepped in and braced himself for being yelled at. Dumbledore just walked slowly towards Harry's bed, his hand kept flinching out to the side as if expecting to find a cane there.

"Children," Dumbledore addressed the marauders. "Would you leave us? Please."

"What are you going to do?" Ginny stepped in front of the bed protectively.

"Just talk Miss Weasley." Dumbledore's head hung weakly. "Only talk."

"It's alright Ginsters." Harry nodded towards her. "It's alright."

Ginny looked doubtful but waved the marauders to follow her out. As the door banged shut Dumbledore walked to the end of the room, glancing at each bed, then flicked the curtains closed with his wand. Another wave of his wand and Harry heard a little muffled sound from the door. Whatever Dumbledore was about to say he didn't want anyone listening. Finally Dumbledore shuffled over to the bed opposite Harry's and sat carefully. There was a long moment of silence that stretched on and on...

"Yes?" Harry asked, speech still hurting his throat. "You got something to say?"

"I... I do not know how to begin." Dumbledore seemed lost, a little lost boy in the woods. "I suppose I should start by telling you how... how incredibly sorry I am. You must believe I never expected that you would do this. But that is no excuse, no excuse at all."

"What are you saying?"

"I... Let me tell you a story." Dumbledore licked his lips. "I am sorry but this is the only way I know to tell you. It begins about fifteen years ago, I had just born-witness to a prophecy that gave the only hope for the fall of the dark lord."

"I know this story."

"Harry please." Dumbledore raised his hands. "This is hard enough... Please just let me speak."

"Alright."

"I had heard the prophecy, the one you know well. I had determined that it referred to a child all of us in the order knew well. The child of Lilly and James Potter. I knew that the child was our only hope. Even before the prophecy was recorded in the department of mysteries I had already placed the Potter family under the strongest protection I could. Unfortunately I failed, I was betrayed."

"Sirius Black."

"Yes. Sirius Black. But his treachery, though it led to the deaths of two of the most brave and honorable people I know, also spelled the end of the dark lord. Voldemort was destroyed. Most of the wizarding world considered him dead. The celebrations... they went on for days... weeks truly. The entire wizarding world breathed again thanks to the sacrifice of Lilly and James Potter and the survival of their son. The boy-who-lived. The boy who showed that Voldemort was not invincible. He was the symbol of triumph, the symbol of hope. But I knew the truth, that Voldemort was not truly dead. I knew that the prophecy was not yet fulfilled and that, when the dark lord would finally rise again, the people would need the boy-who-lived. So I placed him with his mothers blood, with his aunt. The reasons were complex, the blood link provided him protection of a sort but it is unimportant now. I should have known my folly, should have known. It is my fault in so many ways. My fault in every way that matters. I should have watched closer... Because one day, when that boy was six, his aunt had taken both him and his cousin to the shops. Perhaps she was not paying attention or perhaps it was simply an accident, but the boy ran out into the road. A car struck him, terribly fast. I have watched the memories of the crash through others eyes... he flew so far... doctors worked on him, then I had him moved to St Mungos and the healers worked as hard as the could. But the damage... the wounds to his skull... his chest... he passed from this world. Just six years old. My fault. All my fault. His blood on my hands... But I knew it was not over. I knew that Voldemort would still rise, the wizarding world would still need their symbol of hope, their boy-who-lived. Their _hero_. So I found another boy, of the correct age, in a muggle orphanage. I worked magic to change his appearance, his voice, his memories... his memories I destroyed entirely and replaced with fakes, I even supplemented them with some of my own memories of James Potter to make the boy seem like him. Then I placed him back at Privet Drive, I changed the memories of the aunt... the uncle... the cousin. I sought out everyone who had seen the crash and tore the memories from their skulls, the doctors, the healers... I made it so that it never happened. And then a sat back and watched... I watched my fake grow up. I felt my guilt grow. But it was done, and it could not be undone. My great shame... the lie that makes everything else a lie as well. The truth is that the chosen one has been dead for nine years. You are not him."

Dumbledore trailed off, he seemed smaller, even weaker, as if letting this great secret out of him had drained him of everything. Harry shook his head. No... No no no...

"No, you're lying. You. Are. Lying."

"I so wish that I was."

"But I'm the... I'm Harry Potter!" He shook his head. "I'm Harry Potter!"

"No. You are not."

"I have the scar!"

"I gave you that scar." Dumbledore had his eyes closed. But even so a tear squeezed out from the side, running down his long nose and dropping to the floor. "I can remove it right now if you wish it."

"No!" His hands jumped up to his forehead protectively. "You're just... you're saying these things... _WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?_"

"I am sorry. I am so sorry." Dumbledore bowed his head. "I cannot say that to you enough. I... I destroyed you."

"No! I... I cut out my eye!" Harry could feel his blood pumping in his ears. "I've fought! I've fought him all year! I'm the chosen one!"

"You are not. There is no chosen one." Dumbledore sounded like a man burning his last shred of hope. "The prophecy died nine years ago. Voldemort won."

"No. No..." He was shaking, he couldn't stop. "Lies it's just lies!"

"It is not." Dumbledore shook his head. "If you want proof just look to your friends. You named them _the marauders_. On your very first day. How did you know that name? You know that James Potter named his group of friends the same?"

"No, he can't have! It's a lie!"

"It is not. You knew the name because I put in in your mind. If you doubt me ask anyone who was at school with them." Dumbledore was speaking in dead tones now, he had reached the bottom. "I have heard you refer to Professor Snape as Snivellus and to Remus Lupin as Moony. Those were both names James Potter invented. You also knew about Professor Snape's dark mark. How else would you know?"

"I... I..." The boy could feel himself shaking, his mind shaking apart.

"It is true. It is all true... I am so sorry. I am so... I cannot begin to think what this must be doing to you. What this has done to you."

"So... who am I?" The boy looked up. "What's my name?"

"I do not know."

"You found me!" He could hear his shrill voice in his ears. "You dragged me to this life you have to know!"

"I do not Harry I'm..."

"Harry? _Harry?_" The boy threw his head back and screamed, a screeching cacophony of anguish. "And don't you dare say you're sorry! Don't you dare!"

"I... I cannot-"

"Get out!" He grabbed his glass of water and threw it with all his strength, tears blurring his eyes. It shattered against the Headmaster's shoulder. "Get out! Get out! _GET OUT!_"

Dumbledore fled the room, holding his arm. As the old wizard crashed through the doors the boy threw himself back against the wall and howled in pain and confusion, tearing at his hair with hands like claws. Tears ran freely down his face from the one real eye he had left.

Sobbing and broken he lay there, until darkness closed in.


	42. Changeling Child: 8

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 8: Bitterness

"Harry?" Padma said quietly, standing at the end of the hospital bed. Harry seemed to be sleeping, his chest rising and falling weakly. His eyes were red, like he'd been crying. Perhaps the pain was worse than he let on. She felt bad for needing to wake him. "Harry wake up." She reached out and tapped his leg. He jerked fitfully, but his eyes flickered open. He didn't speak though, didn't acknowledge her. He just stared off into space. What had Dumbledore said to him?

"Harry I've been talking to the healers. They've run some more tests." She licked her lips. "Look, it looks like a few months was actually optimistic. There's damage deep down, lots of damage. You need to let them help you now or... or you'll die. In a few weeks."

Harry said nothing, he didn't even seem to have heard her.

"You won't be able to fight Voldemort." Padma tried a different tack. "I'm not saying you'll have weeks like you've been going all year. You'll have weeks in this hospital bed, not able to move, eventually you won't even be able to talk. You won't be able to kill Voldemort. You won't be able to be the chosen one."

Harry flinched, pain running across his tired face.

"You see Harry, you've got to let them help you." Padma stepped up to put her hand on Harry's. "Please?"

"You do what you have to do." Harry pulled his hand away. He still hadn't looked at her.

"You'll let them help you?" Padma tried not to be put off. "You'll take off the evil eye and let them work on you?"

"Yes, why not." Harry rolled over so he was facing away from her. His breathing stuttered, he sounded like he was holding back tears. Padma backed away, she had got what she came for. The healers would fix Harry's body. What had happened to his mind? That might take a little longer.

What had Dumbledore said to him...

The boy who was once called Harry faded in his mind as the healers entered his room. Bustling around and speaking comforting, empty words. They cleaned him up, washing his arms and chest. They asked him to remove the bracer. He did, letting it fall to the floor with a brassy clatter. The healers shied away from the mark on his arm. Fearful. Why should he care.

They did something that was supposed to numb him. He couldn't tell the difference. Everything was dulled already. He watched, unable and unwilling to care, as they cut his skin open. His blood seeped out, quickly staunched by a healer. He wished they wouldn't bother.

A cold gel was swabbed onto his ruined hand. Ruined for what? For the sake of what? All useless. He wished they wouldn't bother.

Draco slapped the sore skin of his arm to try and stay awake. It had been burnt in the battle, but it was fine now. Just enough residual redness and pain to help him stay alert. He swung his weary eyes around the waiting room, all of the marauders were here. Most of them had finally succumbed to sleep, Draco didn't blame them. It was hard to imagine that the deadly midnight assault on the creature ship had been just last night. They had been worn out, worn down. Draco pinched his arm again. He wondered if there was anywhere he could find some tea. The tea shop was closed but surely the healers had a staff room or something. Maybe he could ask one.

Or maybe he could just fall asleep.

Draco shook his head. Some of them had to be awake when the healers finally stopped working on Harry. He shuddered, they had already been at it for hours. How many... additions... had Harry made? He glanced around the room again. Everyone seemed to be asleep. Even Ginny, who seemed to have nodded off in the act of pinching herself. They had all been there all night, no one had collected them. He supposed it was only a matter of time before a teacher or an order member came to wrangle them up and drag them back to Hogwarts, where they would no doubt stay. Chained to posts like dogs so they couldn't run off again.

Draco got wearily to his feet, maybe he could walk some of his tiredness off. He stepped carefully around the prone marauders and stepped up to the door to the ward. Harry's bed was obscured by curtains but the shadow of the healers were still moving against the surface. As he watched one of them detached and stepped towards the door. Draco stepped away to let him out, hope and dread rising in his stomach.

"Is there any news?" Draco asked.

"Yes, there is." The healer looked around the room. "Is his family here?"

"Yes." Draco said definitely, looking over the marauders. "Wait a moment... HEY!" The marauders jerked to life, hands flying to wands before they realized where they were. Draco turned back to the healer. "They're up. What is the news?"

"Well we... we removed several items from the body of your friend." The poor healer swallowed nervously. "We found a drop-gem embedded in his sternum. There was also something in the wall of his stomach. We think it may have been designed to negate poison but it seems to have had the opposite effect. It was the source of his illness. We also found-"

"What about his eye?" Draco broke in. "Have you fixed his eye?"

"His... his eye." The healer paused. "His eye had been removed too long ago, there is a great deal of scarring. Unfortunately we were unable to restore it. We are currently looking into whether the installation he has is high quality enough to leave there."

"Installation..." Draco stared at the man coldly. "You're talking about his eye."

"Yes, I know." The healer shook his head and turned back towards the door. "We'll try to keep you informed." He pushed back through the door and hurried back towards the curtained bed.

Draco looked back over the marauders. Through their sand-filled, droopy eyes he could see their sadness. Harry had fought so hard and got nothing in return but accusations of murder and a permanent disfigurement. And a dark mark, they could not forget that.

"Harry might say it was worth it." Padma said softly. "For driving Voldemort to ground."

"Of course he'd say that. Doesn't make it true." Ron pulled his knees up to his chest. "I mean you heard him in there. He'd think death was worth it."

"Is he wrong?" Draco muttered darkly. Perhaps they didn't hear him. Perhaps it was just as well. They were all startled as another door was pushed open, revealing Professor McGonagall. She didn't need to say anything, they knew why she was there. They were going back. And they might never leave.

"Are you sure?" Natalie asked? Her voice admirably free of shaking. "You could get a bracer like Harry's. Or perhaps there are less invasive means of removal."

"There are not, it was not made to be removed." Snape tightened the strap around his arm. "And I would prefer to not be dependent on an item of illegal jewelry. Just please do it, it is already beginning to burn."

Thankfully she did not argue, but instead bent down and touched her wand to the skin on Snape's arm. The slicing pain was distant, dulled by potions. There were bottles by his arm, some empty, some waiting to grow the skin back after the mark was gone. He was in his apartments at Hogwarts, the only place he could have gained those potions without questions was from his own supplies. The searing began and Snape looked away, watching his own arm butchered was not what disturbed him, not after everything he'd seen. But it reminded him of what Harry was going through. Of the dark lord as well. What would he do next? What would his next move be...

"He may go into hiding." Natalie answered his unanswered question, still intent on his arm. "Like he did fifteen years ago."

"He will not." Snape shook his head. "He was forced to hide then, he had no power. Now he does, it is lessened certainly, but he still has some."

"Bellatrix, Rookwood and Forneus." She traced easily around the edge of the skull. "That is who he has left. What would he do with them?"

"It will be savage, I am certain of that." Snape felt the cutting stop and watched as Natalie picked the little flap of skin up and calmly incinerated it. It was done, he was free. Strange that he should feel so little. Perhaps because he knew he was not truly free until Voldemort was dead. Perhaps because he knew that, without the ability to spy, he was next to useless.

"Don't think that." Natalie's eyes flickered up to his as she daubed his arm with a potion soaked bandage.

"But I am." Snape shook his head. "Perhaps not useless but... if I had not acted on instinct we would now know exactly what Voldemort was planning. We would be able to counter him instead of stumbling around in the darkness."

"You had to." Was all she said.

"Perhaps." Snape let his head drop back, perhaps.

"You know them better than anyone." Natalie continued. "You can work out what he will do next."

"I have been trying." Snape replied tetchily. "But I cannot think of anything he would wish to do that he has the manpower to accomplish. Unless he has some plan I am unaware of. Which he almost certainly has. I always got the sense that he had something brewing."

"The ministry? The department of mysteries? The Prophecy?"

"He covets that no doubt. But I can see no way he could obtain it with three death eaters."

"Four." Natalie corrected. "Barty Crouch is still out there somewhere."

"And if he is not dead then he is doing Merlin knows what." Snape shook his head. "It could be anything."

"Severus," Natalie took his face in her hands and tilted it up to meet her eyes. "Not so low now. We won today. It may not feel like it, but we won a victory. Victories have been few and far between this past year, we need to cherish them, not worry about what will happen next." Snape was once again amazed by the way she could break through to him, whatever his mood. He smiled,

"I believe I have some wine."

The boy who carried the name Harry felt himself enter the familiar dream. He felt floorboards under his back, scratchy through the thin hospital robe. He knew where he would be when he opened his eyes. And finally, he even knew why.

He pushed himself off the floor, leaning his tired frame against the wall. The wall painted with bears and snitches over a pale blue sky full of fluffy clouds. Harry felt like spitting but he couldn't muster the energy. He ignored the crib in the center of the room, it's shiny mobile spinning idly in the dream-wind. He shoved the door open and descended the stairs. The revulsion he always felt was still there, but he could barely bring himself to care. He knew what this place was now.

No one-year-old remembers their house. No one-year-old could remember every photo, or the pattern on the wallpaper. This place was a lie, a parasitic memory that had been burnt into his mind. The creeping sickness in his skin was his mind's way of telling him that it wasn't real, that it didn't belong.

He stepped up to the front door and stepped outside. There were street signs in the memory. No one-year-old would remember street signs, they couldn't even read them. He should have known, should have realized somehow.

He couldn't feel the orchard nearby. God knows what that represented. Some metaphor for safety his mind was projecting out maybe. Who knew. The river? Some other part of his mind... it didn't matter. Harry let himself fall to the ground on the grass, it was all pointless. It wasn't worth fighting this anymore, it was burnt onto the back of his scull. He could never escape.

His eyes flickered open in the hospital ward. He could feel the sore new growth in his hand. It was pink, new skin, and smaller than the other. Harry dropped it back onto the blankets. Other parts of his body hurt too, little scars and injuries. They had fixed him up. He wished they hadn't bothered.

The dream was still swirling in his head, biting at him. It was too hard. He saw his things piled neatly against the wall, even his clothes. Suddenly he knew he had to leave. This place... he just had to leave. He quietly pushed out of bed, ignoring the creaking in every muscle and drew his bag over. He dressed quickly and disillusioned himself before slipping out the door.

The marauders were sleeping there, lying across benches or curled up on the floor. He didn't wake them. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now. Couldn't talk, he had no idea how he would even start. He hurried away and down the stairs. He didn't stop until he was out of the building and a few streets away. A small street, not busy. Breathing hard he shoved his wand out into the street. He found that he could barely keep his arm up for the few seconds it took for the knight bus to blur out of nowhere and screech to a stop in front of him.

"Ere are you Harry Potter?" The pimpled conductor squinted at him, his voice full of amazement.

"No." The word was hollow in his chest.

"Right, right, incognito." The man tapped his nose. "I never believed any of that stuff about ya. Hero that's what I say."

"Right." Hero... that cut to the core like a knife. "Take me to Godrics Hollow." He had no idea where the idea had come from, but as soon as he said it he knew he needed to go. It was as strong a need to go to it as there had been to leave in the dream.

"Godrics Hollow?" The pimpled guy swallowed. "Right, I see."

The bus moved off and the nameless boy sagged down in a chair. Why was he doing this? Did he even have a reason? He didn't seem to have reason's anymore. He remembered being full of fire and need, burning passion for the fight. But now he just felt hollow, like he'd been scooped out. He didn't want anything anymore. Except perhaps to die. Why was he going to Godrics Hollow? Why not. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.

The bus screeched to a halt and he got out without speaking. The bus disappeared with a whoosh, a purple blur in the air. Harry looked up and down the street, it looked like any other village. It was empty this time of day, like a ghost town. Suited his mood perfectly. He looked forward, an derelict house, burnt and with the top floor blown off.

But he knew what had stood there. He had seen it in his dreams. This was where it had happened. It just hadn't happened to him.

He stepped forward his hand stretched out, then shied away. This house was just more lies. The feelings in his head, grief, loss, fear. They weren't his, they weren't his loss. Only strangers had died here, two strangers. People who had nothing to do with him. The grief was another trick, just another level of lie.

He spun away and stalked down the street, not looking back. He had never lived there, it meant nothing to him. Or should mean nothing. His feet brought him to the square and he lent tiredly on the war memorial. He should never have come here, it was not what he needed. He raked his hand through his hair.

Not his hand.

Not his hair.

He spun and punched the stone, hissing out rage through his teeth. The lie poisoned everything. Even his real memories were tainted. He didn't even look like this for Christ's sake! His whole body was a mask!

The stone shifted under his fingers. He looked up just as the memorial seemed to melt, morphing into, a statue underneath. Harry stumbled back. No... no no no. Under the memorial there were two figures, a man and a woman. The woman cradled something in her hands. The man... the man looked just like him.

_No he doesn't. I don't even look like me._ The boy trembled with rage as he looked on the happy Potter family. The testament in stone to the life he had never really had. His fingers went to his wand.

"_Reducto!_" The wand flickered out, even through the rage the spell flew true. It struck the head of the father statue, shattering it into splinters. Some of them cut the boy's flesh. He didn't care.

"_Reducto!_!" Lilly Potter's head snapped off and crunched onto the tarmac. Rolling to a stop in a storm drain.

"_Reducto!_!" The last shot was the strongest, striking out in a blinding bolt of light, obliterating the bundled infant. Blowing the little b_oy-who-lived_ to smithereens. Flames flickered across the statue before they died out. Flickered across the ruined stumps of heads and died to nothing.

The nameless boy stepped back, breathing like he'd run a marathon. His clothes wet with sweat. He dropped his wand back into his pocket and turned his back on the statue, his breath still coming in furious bursts. He couldn't think, couldn't breath. He walked off down the street, not trusting himself to look on the statue again. It made it all too real.

His eyes found a graveyard. Both eyes, real and magical. He shuddered, he'd got used to the shining overlay over his vision, the x-ray view of the world. Now it was just a constant reminder. A reminder of what he'd sacrificed for the lie. He pushed the graveyard gate open and let the eye roam, in a moment it had angled in on the Potter grave. He walked hesitantly to it, his wand safely away in his pocket. He pushed a piece of ivy off the stone and read the inscription.

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death_

Well that was bollocks. Being dead meant you had at least one other enemy left, namely the one that killed you. His eye whirled in it's socket, looking straight down. The two coffins, side to side in the ground, stared back at him. But... there was a shadow. Like a vacant area. He drew his wand and muttered a revealing spell. Faint whiffs of illusion drew out of the ground to meet him. He waved his wand again, cutting the misty waifs away. He worked... he didn't know how long. Probably minutes, maybe hours. At some point the gray sky gave way to rain and the graveyard grass turned slick. Harry ignored it, concentrating on the spells. It was good. It was a puzzle, breaking the illusion. It stopped him from thinking.

Finally he was done. Nothing different showed on the surface, but down underground... Harry stood and stepped back, his heart hammering in his chest. There was a third coffin on top of the other two, arranged like a pyramid. Inside... inside was a smaller body, a child. It's tiny arms crossed over it's chest.

The nameless boy fell to his knees. There it was, the final proof. The final incontrovertible check. That poor wasted body in there was Harry Potter. He could even see a tiny scratch on the bone of his scull, above his eye, in the shape of a lightning bolt. The real scar had cut all the way to the bone, his was barely more than makeup. That was all he was in fact... makeup for a puppet. A god-damn doll.

He raised his wand to the stone, but said nothing. The anger in him was gone. He had seen the bodies of the real Potters, lying together. It was hard to feel anger, but he wished he did. The anger at least filled him up, filled the emptiness with flames. But now the fire was gone and he felt even emptier for it. He found himself resting the point of his wand against the rough, wet stone.

It wasn't even his wand. He stared at it, thoughts skittering over the numb center of his mind. It was a wand gained from killing, killing and fighting in a war he was never supposed to be part of. This wand was his killing wand. He had done horrible things for the sake of this war... to others... to himself. He found himself pressing down harder on the wood. He had pickled his soul in blood and what had it got him? He added his other arm and pushed harder. He had fought, and he'd been broken. The wand splintered with a loud crack, the springy wood bending almost double before it twisted into ribbons. A little red fluff was visible through the break. It had had a phoenix feather core, he never knew.

"Well that makes thinks easier."

The voice had come from behind him. He turned slowly but his magic eye had already whizzed around to find the intruder. The black robes told him everything he needed to know. Harry knew he should feel panic, or dread, fear perhaps, at least surprise. But he was damned if he felt anything.

"You would be Rookwood." His voice sounded dead in his ears.

"Yes I am August Rookwood." The man sketched a sarcastic bow, his wand in his hand. "Thank Merlin I still have a watch on the underage magic detectors. You've come a long way just to slip now. A long long way..."

"Felt like further." The empty boy dropped the remains of his wand onto the Potter grave. Perhaps some fool wizard would find it and make up some story about it. He turned back to the death eater and asked, "Are you going to kill me?" He was surprised that his voice did not sound eager.

"Eventually Mr Potter, no doubt." Rookwood held out his wand. "But first you're going to secure something for me."

"What?"

"The dark lord's undying favor." Rookwood tilted his head up arrogantly. "I will be raised above the others, above even that bastard Crouch." Rookwood paused, obviously expecting the weary figure before him to say something. "Well? Nothing to add? No witticisms?"

"No." The boy who had been Harry stepped forward. "Do whatever you like to me. I don't care anymore."

"Is this some kind of trick?" Rookwood raised his wand threateningly. "You are alone here I know that... well, to be sure. _Stubefy!_"

He closed his eyes before the spell hit. The darkness was welcome.

A crashing noise woke him. Flashing light burned through his eyelids as he groaned. The noise went on and on, familiar... very familiar. His memories twinged, his real ones.

"I'm in the underground." His eyes flickered open just as the tube train flashed out of sight, leaving the tunnel in darkness. He felt the cords binding his hands together, his fingers danced along them trying to find a knot. There was none. They were tight though, biting into his skin, magical no doubt. He didn't have to feel to know that his legs were similarly bound. He didn't bother to try to stand.

"You are indeed Mr Potter." Rookwood stood over him, his wand outstretched. "The London Underground."

The nameless boy twisted and looked around him, one of the walls was been broken through and a dark, earthy tunnel stretched away. Now that the train was gone he could hear something in the darkness all around, a scratching slinking sound.

"We're not alone." Harry breathed.

"Oh, so you noticed." Rookwood held up his wand and lit it, smiling. The darkness rolled back, but not far. A grey wall stopped the light, a writhing mass of cloth and rot.

"What... what are they?" He looked on the dark hooded figures. As he watched one of them turned its shrouded head towards him. It let out a death rattle.

"Those are Dementors." Rookwood smiled. "Had you forgotten that they too served the dark lord? Slipped your mind?"

"Dementors..." The boy looked into the swirling mass. Wasn't he supposed to be feeling some sort of coldness, despair? Wasn't that what Dementors were supposed to do when you were close to them? He shook his head, they couldn't touch him, a person could only feel so much despair and he was already at his limit. And as for making him relive his worst memories? Ha! His darkest moment was still fresh in his mind.

"The dementors like it down here." Rookwood continued. "They've been breeding down here like flies. There are hundreds of them."

"Dementors don't dig." Harry glanced back at the tunnel. "What else do you have down there? I thought I killed everyone you had."

"You did." Rookwood sneered. "But that doesn't matter. In fact, none of that matters. Now be quiet." Rookwood flicked his wand, making a silencing charm. A second flick levitated him off the floor. Rookwood reached into his pocket and pulled out a long silvery length of cloth, easily recognizable. An invisibility cloak. He just hung there in the air as the cloak was thrown over him. He really couldn't have done anything else. Rookwood turned and walked up the tunnel, his black shoes slipping on the wet dirt.

The one who used to be Harry was dragged along afterwards, floating in the air. He couldn't move... speak... he was a ghost. Right now his situation fit him like a glove. He hung weakly as Rookwood moved further towards the scratching, digging sound. The dementors followed after, filling the tunnel with cold. Up ahead there was a turning. As Rookwood walked calmly around the bend figures came into view. One dark cloaked figure standing tall, the rest ragged and torn and scrabbling at the dirt mindlessly. No, it wasn't just their clothes that were ragged. It was their flesh.

Inferi, or zombies. Who could tell the difference? The figure in front of them turned as Rookwood approached. Dark long hair spun out as Bellatrix stepped towards Rookwood.

"You are late Augustus." The female death eater was not as pretty as she had been. It seemed like a steel toed boot with the force of a falling teenager behind it did more damage than expected. The left side of her face was crushed in, a mass of scars and bulging skin. When she spoke she slurred, only the right side of her mouth moving. Her eye was a raw socket, nothing left.

She had lost her eye. How wonderful. How very poignant. Under the cloak the invisible prisoner felt his emptiness filled with a tiny spark of satisfaction.

"Hello Bella." Rookwood stopped, his hand flickering to his wand. "Shouldn't you be in your own tunnel? That was the plan was it not? Forneus in one, myself-"

"I know the plan." Bellatrix snapped. "Do you Augustus? It seems to me that you are the one who doesn't know the plan. I came here to see why you were late. Why were you late?"

"I was delayed momentarily, nothing to concern you." Rookwood waved his hand away. "You should go to your own tunnel. Without someone there the wrangle them the dementors may be getting restless."

"I want the truth of this." Bellatrix held out an accusing finger.

"You will not get it." Rookwood dropped his laconic demeanor and snapped at her. "Get to your own tunnel. We take down the ministry tonight, there can be no mistakes because one of us is trying to separate themselves out from the crowd."

"There is no crowd anymore." Bellatrix sneered through her ruined face. "There are three of us. There will be more than enough glory to go around." Bellatrix turned and dissaperated into thin air.

"Lying bitch." Rookwood grated. "We all want to be the dark lord's right hand. Stop digging you freaks!" He directed the last one to the creatures burrowing in the dirt. They stopped moving and stood, their vacant eyes rotting in their skulls. Rookwood raised his wand and the dirt began flying away faster. In a short moment the dirt became a brick wall, old and faded. The wall of the ministry.

"Are you ready Mr Potter?" Rookwood grinned up at the invisible prisoner hanging above him. "Here we go." He turned to the wall and raised his wand. There was a shattering blast and the wall caved in. Behind it a man at a desk jumped to his feet his hand tangling in his robes. A green flash of light struck him in the head, he dropped onto the desk, scattering papers.

"Go." Rookwood pointed. The dememtors flew past him, the inferi lumbering along between them. There were a few moments of silence, then the screams started.

"Dumbledore!" Moody yelled as he thumped down the corridor at Hogwarts, moving his old bones as fast as they could. "Dumbledore get your senile arse down here!"

"Moody?" Albus appeared around the corner, his face a mask of concern. "You were on guard duty. What are you doing here?"

"Didn't you listen to me?" Moody threw his hand back the way he'd come. "The ministry's falling! Enough dementors to paint the sky black!"

"Why didn't you send a patronus?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said! Every inch of that place is full of the soul sucking demons! No patronus could cut through that!"

"My god, we must help them!"

"_Oh really? You think so?_" Moody saw his spit fly.

"We must go now." Dumbledore pushed past him, dashing to the door. "We can take back the ministry, all of us can."

"But there could be a trap!" Moody tried to keep up, his breath catching in his chest. "You can't go in there blind you can't just... we don't even know where Voldemort is!" Dumbledore was speeding away. "We need a plan! Do you have a plan you old bast-" But Dumbledore was gone, already around the corner. Moody doubled over, he was old, too old. But gods he wasn't done yet, he wasn't... done. What the hell was Dumbledore thinking? He could get them all killed! The entire order. The entire bloody order in one fell swoop, and what the hell could he do to stop it? He felt so old...

But not yet done.

He straightened and staggered down the hall. Faster. Faster. He found the door he wanted and threw it open.

"Severus!" Moody shouted towards the startled Professor. "The order needs your help!"

"The order?" Snape stood, his hands flat on the table. Zhao was beside him in a moment. "I am not a member of the order any-"

"The ministry is compromised!" Moody saw his words cut Snape. "Dementors in more numbers than ever before."

"And you want all the help you can get?" Snape sneered. "The order had done me no favors lately."

"Severus," Natalie Zhao spoke calmly, despite the situation. "Look at him, something else is going on."

"Smart girl." Moody shook his head. "Dumbledore is heading for the ministry, by now he's trailing half the order. He's going in without any eyes, without anything. It is a trap, or could be. Even if it's not he's still going to lose half the order. He's... he's reckless. He's stuck in the old war. He's everything you said he was. But if we let this happen..."

"I know." Snape's eyes flickered with panic. "We need to help them. We need to help the order."

"That's why I'm here Snape." Moody was gritting his teeth. Every moment was wasted. "But I don't know what... there are only three of us."

"Four." Snape muttered under his breath. "There are four of us. Natalie, would you get Michelson. Meet us at the ministry back entrance."

"Even four can't cover this." Moody growled as the unspeakable dashed from the room. "You know that."

"I know. I know well..." Snape pulled a robe off the back of a chair. "We need an army."

"Do you know where to find one?"

"I do." Snape closed his eyes, "I do."

Rookwood stepped over a body. It's eyes were still open, it's mouth moving vacantly. The dementor's kiss, it left them living, but they were bodies nonetheless. Rookwood paid them no mind.

"Welcome Mr Potter, to the Department of Mysteries." Rookwood pulled the cloak off his floating prisoner. Harry Potter. His prisoner was just hanging there dumbly. Well... he couldn't really do any different. Rookwood let Harry down to the floor and canceled the silencing charm. "Well Mr Potter? You have anything to say?"

"What are you doing with me?" Potter's voice was a little horse from the long silence. "You're trying to earn points with your lord, isn't capturing me enough?"

"More than enough Harry. More than enough." Rookwood tweaked his wand and the bonds on Harry's legs snapped off. Another click and Harry stumbled forward. "But I am after the icing on the cake. If I am to surpass Crouch in terms of merit to the lord... I must seek the icing."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Harry said dully.

"Well I didn't ask you." Rookwood hurried forward through the ministry, he had to slow down a moment later though as Harry shuffled along behind him. "Hurry up!"

"My feet are asleep. Your ropes were too tight."

"Just move." Rookwood walked back and grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt. The dementors were still swirling by the ceiling, looking for victims. There were still a few left. Not enough to trouble over though. He stepped into out into the memory office, pulling his strangely compliant charge past the tank of brains. He stopped by the door to the death chamber, there was the sound of spells from within, someone holding out perhaps. He pushed the door open in time to see a wizard scrambling away from an inferi trip and fall. The corpse-warrior grabbed the blubbering unspeakable in it's unshakable grip and threw him away with inhuman strength. Screaming as he flew across the room, his scream was cut off as he fell through the archway in the center. The curtains ruffled for a moment, then went still again.

Rookwood hid a shudder, he was never entirely comfortable with the execution portal. Harry watched from his side with dull eyes. What was wrong with the boy? Never mind. Rookwood picked his way around the edge of the room, giving the inferi a wide birth, and pushed open the door at the other side.

"Well Potter here we are." Rookwood gestured impressively at the banks of shelves in front of them, each one with rows upon rows of tiny spheres. "This is the hall of prophecy."

"These are prophecies?" Harry sniffed disbelievingly as Rookwood dragged him along the line of shelves. "They look like snow-globes."

"They are records of prophecies, and they are the reason we are here." Rookwood glanced down at the boy he was dragging along. "Did you know there was a prophecy made about you?"

Harry didn't answer, but he sniffed again, his mouth twisting into a sneer.

"I assume that was a yes." Rookwood glanced up at the number on the shelf, yes this was it. "The prophecy concerned you and the dark lord, you know that too?"

Once again the boy stayed silent. Rookwood poked him in the back to set him walking up to where the prophecy was held.

"The dark lord is very eager to get his hands on the prophecy. That prophecy." Rookwood pointed at the particular orb. "And I will be the one to give it to him. My icing, you could say."

"What do you need me for?" Potter was staring at the orb with barely contained hatred. What was going on?... Never mind, it wasn't important.

"Shall I tell you something about the prophecies of the department of mysteries? They are keyed, protected. Only certain people can lift them from where they lie. Namely the people they have been made about. So the only people who can take this prophecy are the dark lord, and you."

Potter stared at the orb for a moment longer, the words sinking into him. Then he threw his head back and laughed, laughed so hard his eyes ran with tears. It was a reaction Rookwood had not expected. Laughter, but not in jest, not in joy. This was a bitter laugh, full of darkness. What was going on?

"So that's it is it?" Harry choked out, his dead eyes still glistening. "What a bitter joke"

"What?" Rookwood shook his head.

"And if someone else grabs one?" Harry reached out his hand. "What happens then?"

"If they are very lucky they might escape with only major injuries." Rookwood answered confusedly. "But in all likelihood? They would die. Screaming."

"Really?" The Potter boy's hand hovered over the swirling glass. "To hell with it." His fingers closed around the orb.

Minerva screamed as she threw her patronus against the grew wall before her, knowing it was too late. The dementors scattered but a lifeless body fell from their clutches. An auror. Subjected to the kiss.

Minerva shuddered, she only hoped it had been quick. She spun as cold hands grabbed her from behind, crushing her with inhuman strength. The breath fled from her lungs and she felt ribs crack. In desperation she transformed and dashed away on four feet, spinning and changing back to plant a fireball in the chest of the inferi that had held her. As soon as it was gone another took it's place.

They were overrun, there were too many!

"Help me! Oh god help me!" A figure ran from out of the madness, his green bowler still clutched in his hands. "Please!"

"Get out of here you fool!" McGonagall shoved Fudge away. She could not deal with him. Her eyes searched through the scrambling masses for the head of the order. "Dumbledore! Dumbledore we must pull back!"

She could not see him, she could not see anything. Despair was her only warning and she spun, a shining light throwing a dementor away that had been practically on her back. She didn't even know where they were anymore, near the courts possibly. Down in the deeps, no escape.

She heard a scream from her left and sent a patronus wildly into the surging crowds. The scream cut off sharply. Whether she had had any effect she did not know, she had to transform again to dance out of the way of a swooping dementor and snapped back to send another shining light to hold them back again. But her body was tired, her wand arm tired.

Rotting flesh filled her nostrils and she tried to bring her wand around. Too slowly. The dead fist crunched into the side of her head and she fell. She brought her wand up and blew the dead figure to shards, blood already dripping into her eyes. They needed help, and there was no one to give it.

No one.

The orb came free in Potter's hand, it's faint radiance shining through his fingertips. Rookwood felt his heart leap, but the Potter boy was staring at the prophecy like it was a live snake.

"Good, good. Now give it to me!" Rookwood demanded, but the boy didn't move.

"Not possible." Harry shook his head. "Saw the body..." The body? He wasn't making any sense.

"Just give me the bloody orb!" Rookwood made to grab it but Potter slipped away.

"It's not... It's not... Can't." Suddenly the white light faltered. A tinny whine filled the air, like grinding gears. Harry held up his hand, slowly uncurling his fingers. In the middle of the white a tiny spike of darkness was growing, like ink in milk. The blackness grew until it covered the whole inside of the orb, it was no longer shining glass but a polished orb of obsidian. The whine grew in the air, biting into his ears. Suddenly there was a fizzing crackle and Potter yelped in pain, spilling the prophecy onto the floor. Rookwood cried out, it would break for sure! But when the orb struck the ground it squelched, spreading out like clay. Smoke rose from the blackened glass.

Rookwood leant forwards and held his hand out over it. The heat was unbearable this close and he had to shy back. The prophecy had melted. Melted into a steaming puddle on the floor.

The Potter boy... he did this!

"What did you do?" Rookwood snarled. Potter backed away, his hands held up.

"Not me, Dumbledore. He must have switched them."

"Dumbledore could not have touched the prophecy!"

"He could if it was already played out." Potter glanced at the muck on the floor. "A trap, or else his illusions on me interfered somehow."

"You speak madness." Rookwood reached out to grab the boy but just as he did so the ground shook, throwing them both off their feet. "What the hell is that?"

"He's come." The Potter boy was staring through the ceiling like a madman, his face again an empty mask of horror. "He's come."

Suddenly the dementors went still, floating off their enemies to hover by the ceiling. The silence broken only be the groaning of the wounded. Minerva's eyes found the entrance to the lift, it's mesh opening in a grating crash. Stepping out into the corridor, black robes floating behind him and a hand curled in a wave to the creatures swirling above, was the dark lord himself. Minerva felt her heart jump to her throat. She glanced around, the order was in tatters. Only Dumbledore stood tall, the rest of them were covered in blood and shaking from the exertion of the battle. There was no force here to stop a dark lord, no force at all.

Voldermort's eyes found a quivering lump on the floor and he smiled. Ignoring Dumbledore the dark lord crooked a finger, pulling the figure to his feet. The green bowler was gone, but the pale flesh remained.

"Ah, Cornelius." Voldemort chuckled. "Remember back when you used to invite me up to your office for tea? Back when you were just a department head and I, just a innocent boy. Oh how far we've come."

"Please..." Fudge whimpered. "Please don't hurt me."

"Hurt you Cornelius? But why would I need to?" Voldemort gestured to the ceiling. "Even as I speak the rest of your ministry has already been overrun. The ministry you so love is a nest of soul sucking wraiths. Why would I need to hurt you? I already have everything I wanted from you."

"Tom," Dumbledore's voice spoke out soft in the darkness. "You can not possibly think I will let this stand?"

"No old man, I do not." Voldemort flicked his wand towards the Headmaster. Fudge dropped to the floor and scampered away down the corridor. "I think you will do as you have always done. Stand bravely in the face of the tide, and be swept under."

"Tom I shall-"

"No!" Voldemort cut the Headmaster off with a sharp word. "I have grown tired of you." Voldemort raised his hand and the Dementors fell like hunting hawks. Minerva was forced to fight for her life against the grey hoard, spinning around her like a vortex of death. And in flashes of light beyond that vortex she could see Dumbledore rushing towards his foe, his wand out like a sword.

Minerva tried to cut her way forward. Tried to get to them, to help. But the crush was too great. An inferi had her arm in it's vice like grip and she blew it off with flames. Another took it's place too quickly. Far too quickly. There was a gout of purple light that cut through the air, momentarily beating back the dementors. Through the gap she could see the dueling wizards in the center of all this, Dumbledore raising the very stones of the floor in a wall against the dark lord, but it was blasted to shreds just as quickly. Dumbledore was driven to his knees.

Minerva dashed towards him but the grey masses closed between them. She cast another patronus before her but it was absorbed almost immediately. She felt an arm clutch hers and spun to burn it off before she recognized the face.

"Remus!" She moved back to back with the werewolf, spinning her patronus into a circle around them. "We need to get to them!"

"It is too late for that!" He shouted back.

"Then what do you propose!"

"We die." Lupin delivered that last in a flat growl. "We are finished."

"We are not!" Minerva tried to throw another patronus but the despair was sinking in and it faltered as white mist, easily brushed aside by the wraiths. Suddenly there was a burst of tearing noise, breaking the flagstones and making the chamber shake with it's force. As it died there a flash of red light and a high cruel laugh.

"That is the best you could do?" The voice of Voldemort was unmistakable. "I win old man."

The dementors parted for a moment, like clouds in wind. The dark lord stood over the sprawled form of the Headmaster, his boot on Dumbeldore's neck. Minerva felt despair that had nothing to do with the dementors. She let her wand hand drop to her side. They had lost. It was all over.

"Expecto Patronum!" A chorus of strong voices cried the spell and the room was filled with a wall of light. Minerva watched as a charging white lion crashed into the massed forms before her, a snarling wolf running at it's heels.

"You! Traitor!" Voldemort had his wand drawn and had spun to face the lift. Minerva turned to look but saw just one figure standing there, his arms crossed in arrogant casualness.

"Step away from the Headmaster." Snape had his wand drawn and flicked it down towards the dark lord. "I have not seen eye to eye with him of late but it would be a pity if he died."

"I will kill you!" Voldemort surged forward and Snape's wand stabbed forward. There was a flash of light and Snape was thrown backwards. He stumbled and pushed himself up, driving a savage blast of frozen wind at the dark lord.

Minerva dashed forward to help him but once again found a hand gripping her arm.

"Minerva!" A head appeared out of nowhere as a cloak was thrown back. Natalie Zhao? What in Merlin's name? "Minerva the students can't keep them back forever and sooner or later Voldemort's going to wonder where those other patronus came from."

"The students?"

"The marauders." Natalie snapped. "Now come on!"

"But Snape-"

"Is holding him back!" The unspeakable grabbed a prone figure on the floor. "Now tell your people to fall back before everyone else is dead!"

The boy who had been Harry didn't know where he was. There had been a mad dash away from Rookwood, screaming and dashing through the confusion of battle, then there had been some stairs, then a corridor... The sounds of battle were everywhere, coming out of the walls. He had just kept running., unable to do anything else. His heart raced beyond what any human exertion should have forced it to. His mind was blank, a dead weight. Today had been a lifetime.

The shattering noise of a spell exploded from the left and he dashed away like a rat. He had to get out.

"Come on dance with me you mangled bitch!" Michelson came into view down a long hallway, throwing bolts of lightning at Bellatrix and laughing like a madman.

He had to get out. He dashed into a stairway and almost tripped over a body on the floor. Pink hair, auror's robes. Oh no...

He crouched down on the floor, his fingers going to Tonk's neck on instinct. He did not really expect to find anything, her skin was pale and...

She had a pulse.

The nameless boy had to shield her body as a shining laser of something cut through the wall above them. The duel was raging just on the other side of the wall. She wouldn't have a pulse for long if he left her here.

So long... His brain was grey sludge, he just wanted to shut down. He had no wand and his muscles were water. They would never reach safety anyway, this place was a warzone. But on the other hand... Tonks.

Putting a tired shoulder under her arm, he lifted her up.


	43. Changeling Child: 9

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 9: Message in a bottle

Snape let himself down tiredly on the edge of the fountain of magical brethren. Every bone ached and his arm was tied up to his body in a sling. There was no time for healing yet though, no time at all.

"Stay back.!" Natalie was shouting calmly (a tough combination to master), raising her hands to the crowd of ministry survivors. "Just stay there and the healers will get to you! And you get out of here!" The last was directed to a daily prophet reporter furiously scratching away at a notebook.

The other side of the hall, back behind the fireplaces, a line of beds were set up for triage. From where he sat Snape could see Elizabeth Heathland lying sedated, her hand clutched by her constant companion Vanessa. She would be alright though, a little cold and quiet for weeks to come and likely not ever wanting to encounter a dementor again but she would live. Oh to have just one of them back in his house, or any of the marauders. They had fought like tigers, like attack dogs with wands.

One of the doors slammed open and Markus stepped out angrily. His robes were mostly burnt off and he had blood running down the side of his chest but he seemed unaware of these little details.

"She got away." The massive wizard reached the edge of the fountain and plunged his head under the surface. A moment later he lifted it up and pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. "Bellatrix."

"The marauders told me you had gone after her."

"She reached one of their bloody tunnels." Markus grated. "Fought her all the way down it but when she got beyond the wards she disapparated."

"Then she is out of the fight at least." Snape nodded, he would take any victory he could get. "Forneus is in custody and Rookwood is numbered among the dead."

"So I'm the only one who missed his mark." Markus shook sprays of water out of his hair. "Sorry mate."

"Bella has more lives than a cat, do not think any more of it."

"You say that but... I'm not used to failing, never done it before." Marcus shed his ruined robe and dumped it carelessly on the floor before glancing around at the confusion. "What's happening here? Did we get everybody out?"

"We have taken back most of the ministry. I believe all of the marauders deserve Os"

"They deserve bloody medals!"

"Yes but I cannot give them medals. You however _can_ give them Os." Snape smiled a fain smile and saw it returned broader. He gestured towards the lift with his good arm. "Voldemort holds the department of Mysteries. Or to put it another way he is trapped there. He has placed a ward on the lift and on all staircases."

"I can break through." Michelson nodded arrogantly. "Give me five minutes."

"I doubt that you could do it in five or five hundred." Snape shook his head. "I know that ward. There is only one way to get through it, and that is with a dark mark on your arm."

"Well then you can-" Michelson cut off as Snape pulled up his sleeve to reveal the newly cut skin. "Oh."

"Yes, and it's worse than that." Snape bowed his head. "He has hostages down there, order members and unspeakables who survived."

"How many?"

"Ten, we think." Snape glanced up to meet Markus' eyes. "Including Lupin... and Dumbledore."

"Mother of god." Michelson slammed his fist into his palm. "So it's a stalemate?"

"For now, until he makes his move. He can not wait forever." Snape felt a little shudder run through him. Whatever the dark lord's move would be it would be the death of at least some of those hostages. Probably all.

"What the..." Suddenly Michelson was on his feet, an expression of shock on his face. "Merlin's... Harry?"

A moment later Snape saw what he had seen. Out of a passageway Harry was stumbling, a prone body weighing him down and his face a grey mask. He didn't look up, didn't acknowledge anything, just stepped directly to the nearest bed and lay his burden down bedside a shocked healer. Snape rushed forward and saw marauders stand in every corner of the room, running towards the unexpected sight of their leader.

"Harry." Draco came to a stop just in front Harry. "Harry what are you doing he-"

"Tonks is hurt." Harry broke in. "You should try to look after her, she's your cousin."

"Harry are you alright?" Hermione reached out to touch him but he flinched away. "What is it Harry?"

"I'm fine." Harry was almost curling up under their stares, hugging his arms close to his chest.

"Are you hurt?" Padma asked. "The healers could loo-"

"I said I'm fine. Just... go away."

"How did you get out of the hospital?"

"Where's your wand?"

"Shut up."

"How did you get to the ministry?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Harry yelled angrily. As the marauders shied back there was a blast of heat from behind them. Snape spun around in time to see the fountain of magical brethren go red hot and begin melting, dissolving into the water with a hiss. But the gold was not disappearing, it was staying there in the water, mixing with the water. Harry forgotten, Snape stepped forward as the surviving order members, ministry workers and marauders surrounded the pool of gold.

It was like a mirror, shining with yellow light up to the ceiling. As they watched it faded to silver, then to grey, then finally to pure white. The white resolved into shapes, colours bloomed out of the pure light. As the shapes coalesced Snape heard a shriek from someone on the other side of the pool and almost felt like following suit.

In the pool, rippling on the surface of the liquid, was an image of lord Voldemort. He was standing in what was clearly the department of mysteries. The wand in his hand was long and pale, it was not the one Snape was used to seeing him use. It was unmistakably Dumbledore's wand. Behind the dark lord, lined up and chained together, were ten wizards. Though the picture was faded and the colours ran together Snape could easily recognize the two on the end. Cornelius Fudge and Albus Dumbledore.

The Voldemort image turned towards them and spoke, his voice sounding deep and echoic like it was coming from the bottom of a well.

"Good wizards of the ministry," The dark lord greeted amicably. "Members of the order of the phoenix and the _good children_. What you are seeing is the inside of the department of mysteries, where all the greatest secrets are hidden. All the deepest magic of the ministry is within these walls, all controlled by me."

"He's lying." Natalie assured the panicking wizards around her. "There's nothing down there he could use."

"And look at my friends here," Voldemort gestured out over his prisoners. "They all fought. They all failed, such is the price of defying lord Voldemort." He took a bundle of wands out of his pocket and hovered it into the air. With a gout of flame they burnt into ash. "Such is the price... And look who we have here..." Voldemort crooked a finger and Fudge was dragged forward, his bonds separating from the others. He came to a stop by the dark lord's feet and looked up with pained eyes.

"Are you going to... to kill me?" Fudge stuttered out.

"Yes." Voldemort answered simply.

"But but... I."

"I am going to kill you you miserable petty man, whatever you say."

"Then... then." Fudge seemed to breath a little easier. "Do you remember when I used to invite you up for tea? Back when I was... I was a department hear and you were... you were younger."

"Yes?"

"Well I spat in your tea." Fudge shuddered out through gritted teeth. "Every time. Even back then you were a creepy little freak."

"You..." Voldemort seemed to grow in menace, his eyes blazing. "Why do you tell me this? Surely you know it is pointless!"

"My... my dear boy." Fudge stuttered, his eyes still to the floor. "Defiance... is never p... p... pointless."

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

Green light filled the pool of water and for a moment none of them could see anything. Snape felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest. The light cleared in time for them too see the dark lord savagely kicking the minister's body to the side and stabbing his wand towards Dumbledore. The headmaster was thrown forward roughly.

Snape swallowed worriedly. The dark lord was showing them this to demonstrate his power but Fudge had openly defied him. Voldemort would be enraged.

"Well old man!" Voldemort stabbed his wand down at Dumbledore, a bolt of electricity charring a hole in the Headmaster's robes. "Do you not have something to say? Some last word before I take your life."

Dumbledore just stayed silent. It was only from the light rise and fall of his chest that Snape could tell he was still alive.

"Speak Albus!... _Crucio!_" Voldemort held the headmaster in the throws of the torture curse for a few moments before releasing him. "You will speak! There has been too much between us, you have been my enemy for too long for me to let you end it this way. You will acknowledge that I have won, you will say it! You will acknowledge this victory in some way before I kill you with your own wand!"

Dumbledore didn't even look at the dark lord. In a rage Voldemort slashed his wand through the air, dragging Dumbledore to his feet.

"You will speak!" The snake like face was set with cruel anger. "You will speak before you die!"

"I..." Dumbledore wet his lips and tried again. "I am ready to die."

"What?"

"I am ready..." Dumbledore closed his eyes. "I am ready to die for everything I have done. Those are my last words, the only ones you will get. Kill me."

"You... _Cruci_..." Voldemort raised his wand to form the curse but let it die on his lips. Snape could almost see him dragging his emotions back under control. "But of course, how could I deny a last request. _Avada Kedavra!_"

It was as if time froze. The pool exploded with green light again and Snape's throat closed, every muscle tensing. The other watchers around the pool held their hands to their faces, or shook there head... they would not believe it. The green light faded and the body of Albus Dumbledore dropped to the ground. It crumpled like a paper napkin, his beard trailing onto the floor like a rag.

So fell Albus Dumbledore. Snape felt a small hand worm into his. Natalie's hand. He didn't know whether she was offering comfort or asking for it. Perhaps both.

"Here dies Albus Dumbledore." Voldemort laughed. "A fool to the end, and in the end a disappointment. So there you are, two hostages dead. I have eight left and all will die if you do not give me what I want. I want Harry Potter. Bring him to me in one half-hour or I will kill another, perhaps the werewolf. I am sure no one will miss him. But if any of you wish to see these wizards alive, then you know what you must do. Bring. Me. Harry. Potter!"

The pool went black and Snape stepped back. All around him people seemed to be going mad, crying and shouting to one another in confusion. His eyes were only trying to find one figure. Harry Potter. He swept the crowd. Nothing.

Snape turned to the entrance in time to see the doors snap shut.

The nameless boy crashed out of the phone box and dashed away, his feet slipping on the wet sidewalk. Rain splattered against his face as he ran out into the streets. He didn't even know why he was running, just that he had to get away. All of them would look to him, would look at him and expect to see Harry Potter. Expect to see their savior, when all there was was a fraud. He dashed past the people in the street, some of them turning to look at his odd clothing and panicked expression, but he was running too fast and they were left behind.

He heedlessly ran into the road and heard the screech of breaks. He prayed that one of the cars would hit him. His feet would not stop moving and the sound of horns was left behind. His magic eye painted the world in shimmering curtains of shadow, distorted by the raindrops settling on it's surface. He pushed past a man in a suit and heard the man yell. He couldn't stop running. Had to get away. But what he was running from could not be escaped. He was running from reality. The rain ran like a river. Roaring like the river.

Finally, with his heart beating like a jack-hammer, he collapsed on the cold, wet pavement. He lay there, his feet still twitching, and breathed. He had collapsed in an alleyway, dark and dirty. Wait...

He turned to lie on his back as his magic eye swivelled around, taking in every detail. He had been here before... This was the alley where it all started, where Hagrid had caught him so many years ago. There was the drainpipe he had climbed... the roof he had hid... He had come a full circle, entirely.

Heedless of the driving rain he opened his mouth and laughed. Laughed in pure bitterness. If only he had never stopped here, had never been caught, had never gone to Hogwarts. Then he would never have known, would never have known any of this. He would have been able to keep on being Harry Potter. He felt tears running down his cheeks and mingling with the rain, freezing him to the bone.

But there was warmth. A little point of heat at his chest. He dug his hand into his shirt and slowly drew it out.

His pendent. Pythea's pendent. Worn so long he had almost forgotten it was there. But now it was glowing like a star, so bright beneath the gray sky. He knelt and held it cupped in both hands, staring at it in wonder as a silver mist swirled out from the point. It pooled in his hands, swirling and sifting. Slowly the sparkling liquid rose, shaped and colored and separated until two orbs hung in the air by his hands. One of burnished gold, the other pure white.

"Harry..."

The white orb shifted, moved and expanded. It shaped into a figure, every curve glowing with light, every flowing line of her pure white dress and her porcelain skin.

"Thea..." He breathed.

"Harry I wish I could have come sooner." Thea stepped forward and encased his hands in hers.

"Another illusion-"

"No." Pythea shook her head. "This is no illusion. This is really me talking, from Greece. I thought you might need my help."

"Your... help?"

"You're lost. Lost in the woods." Thea smiled faintly. The golden orb was still circling her, pulsing faintly. "And I am the oracle. I thought you might need a guide out. That was why I gave you this all those years ago, to help you find your way. In your darkest hour. You need to find your way again Harry, or else were all doomed."

"Thea," The boy ducked his head, his eyes squeezing shut. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not the one you were trying to help, not the chosen one. I'm not-"

"I know who you are." Pythea said simply.

"You... you do? But then why?"

"Harry did you think I was helping you all these years because you were the chosen one?" Thea laughed lightly, her crystal voice filling the void between the buildings with joy. "I wasn't helping you because you were Harry Potter I was helping you because you were you."

"Don't call me that. Don't call me Harry."

"It's your name if you want it to be. Or chose another name." Pythea smiled. "When I first met you you were calling yourself Jack."

"Stop." Too painful. Memories of pleasant times,

"I will not stop. I will never stop trying to help you. I knew the moment I met you that you weren't the chosen one. I mean _please_ Harry, I'm the mistress of prophecy. Did you honestly think for a moment that I would miss a thing like that? I saw who you were. I also saw that, in a world without hope, you were the only shining chance."

"You... you saw something about me? My future?"

"I saw nothing about your future. I saw everything about you." Pythea knelt to meet him eye to eye. "I saw you a brave and true soul who would fight for this world even if the entire world was against him. I saw someone who could get struck down a thousand times and would still pick himself up. I saw that the dark lord would rise and I hoped... I didn't know but I hoped that you would never buckle before him. With the world in peril and the future uncertain I took the best chance the world had. I took a chance on you. In a time of complete despair, I trusted you."

"But, I can't fight anymore." The boy dropped his eyes. "I just... I just feel empty. You don't know what it's like to have someone walk up to you and snatch your entire life, everything you believe, right out from under you."

"I do." Pythea replied simply.

"Really?" Harry swallowed. "Wh... what did you do?"

"I gave him a necklace." Pythea smiled. "But I don't expect you to accept what you have to do from me, which is why I brought him." Pythea gestured up to the golden sphere. "You've carried this necklace close to your heart for almost four years now. I think it's time you saw what's inside. Don't die Harry, please don't die. I'll see you soon." She faded into nothing, leaving just the golden orb left. As soon as she was gone it began stretching and shaping.

"Um what do I do?" An uncertain voice came from the growing cloud of mist. "I just speak into it?"

The shape resolved into a figure. His long robes were buttoned tightly and long arms, rolled up now to show his arms. Those robes were familiar. Tonks had worn them last year, auror trainee robes. The face remained foggy for a moment more then coalesced, becoming a firm model in golden light, right down to the last tousled hair.

The boy who had been Harry's mouth fell open in shock. He was looking up into his own face. No... no there were differences. The jaw was more pointed, sharper, the eyes closer together. He didn't have a scar on his neck, nor a dark mark on his arm. He looked older too, at least two years if he was an aurors apprentice. God... was it possible? Was this... Harry Potter?

"I don't quite understand this." The ghostly golden figure said. "Your friend, Pythea, she says that you're in a different world or... or dimension or something. A different time too. I don't quiet understand it, need Hermione for that sort of thing."

"So do I..." A murmured whisper. Disbelief.

"Your friend says I won't remember recording this, won't remember any of it." The figure was just staring into space as it spoke. Apparently this one was a true recording. "But if... if I understand what she's explained to me then your world is very different from mine. For one thing... I'm not in it. I died."

The golden Harry glanced to the floor, shaking his head.

"I wish I knew why but... your friend won't tell me. Something about lessening the interference as much as possible. There are other things I wish I could tell you, things you _really_ should know about-" The recording skewed like static for a moment then continued. "But apparently I'm not allowed to say them either. All she's told me is that you, you were told you were me. Until very recently you thought you were me... or will. The time thing is really confusing me. I'm recording this in my future, to be given to you in your past, to play in your present. Apparently Pythea thinks that maybe I can say something to you... maybe explain... I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. I can't imagine what you're going through. It's like... It's like you're an orphan all over again. Except this time it's worse because you know you had a past it's just been taken. I know you must feel like crawling into a hole and dying, I've felt like that. When my godfather died I... but that's not the same really. I don't know what I'm saying."

The ghostly figure began pacing up and down.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say to you." The Harry stopped pacing and spread his hands. "Except that, that it gets better. I've been through things as bad as you, and I'm probably the only person you'll ever meet that can say that. Your friend says that, since I'm dead in your world, the job of fighting Voldemort falls to you. I can't say it' going to be easy, but you know that. In fact I can't think of anything that I could say to persuade you to take the job. Except that you _have to_. The world depends on it. And I know that the world hasn't done you any favors. Maybe right now you feel like you'd rather let the world be destroyed for everything it's done to you. I don't know what I can say to convince you that's not true except for two things. One, it gets better. It _really, really_ does. Eventually. And two..."

The shadow figures licked it's lips.

"Do you know how many regulations are broken by this kind of inter-dimensional transit? Certain countries still have the death penalty for messing around in parallel worlds. Just getting here, the effort it must have taken. The risks your friend has taken just to get this message to you... I guess what I'm saying is that even if the entire rest of the world is hell right now you've got one person who's willing to risk everything for you. Risk her life. So if nothing else... fight for her."

The figure faded. It's eyes lasted the longest, staring out into the rain, then they too were gone and the alley was dark again. The boy on the ground stood, slowly and with care, but he stood.

"Wow..." He said softly. "What a dork."

He chuckled to himself, the laughter building. His hands went to his stomach as he threw his head back and laughed, the rain trickling down his face. That was Harry Potter was it? Git. I mean who talks like that? Screw him. Screw the overly dramatic, hesitant bastard. If that childish gimboid can save the world I sure as hell can.

He pushed his rain soaked hair out of his eyes. It was like the emptiness was, somehow separate. It was still there, the gaping void, it was just that all the important parts of him, the things that made him who he was, were outside it. He settled the little shell necklace back around his neck. Just a shell now, it's magic gone. But not wearing it was unthinkable. It was part of him, the real him, and he needed it back. Especially since he intended to pick the biggest fight of his life.

He needed a plan though... and if he was going to survive a fight with the greatest dark wizard in the world it would need to be a bloody good plan. Or a bloody insane one. Let's see, he had no advantages. Voldemort held all the cards. Voldemort could kill him without thinking. And Voldemort had hostages. On the other hand Voldemort was alone, he had no death eaters, no dark creatures, no servants.

Whatever plan he came up with it would come down to just the two of them. A fair fight. Which he would lose.

So make it an unfair fight.

His lips curled into a smile. There it was, there was the idea. A Harry Potter plan.

Smiling, he walked out of the alley. He picked up his pace and he reached the street, how much of his half hour was gone? He had lost all track of time. He broke into a run. He knew he should go faster but he would help no one if he was to tired to fight. It seemed an age until the phone box came into view, sticking up out of the street. Harry got in, then pressed the code on the receiver.

"Welcome to the ministry of magic. Please state your name and business." The phone said flatly.

"Harry Potter." Said Harry smiling. "I'm here to save the world."

The machine apparently took him a little too literally as...

_Harry Potter  
Messiah_

... Clattered into the hopper. Harry didn't bother to pick it up. If he didn't know who he was now no badge was gonna tell him. He dissilusioned himself before the doors slid open again and stepped out into the ministry foyer. There was a level of organized chaos and another bigger level of disorganized chaos. Harry ignored it and his magic eye picked out the marauders. The were all clustered in one place. Harry wandered over to them and quietly said,

"Don't move. Don't give them and sign you're hearing me. Just come over here behind that chimney where we can't be seen."

The marauder's stiffened, but to their credit none of them gave the game away. Harry followed them as they slowly rose and nonchalantly wandered behind the massive fireplace. Once they were all behind Harry dropped his illusion and smiled at his friends.

"Hi guys. I'm back."

"Harry are you..." Hermione began, then paused. "Are you... feeling better?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, at all of you. And yes I'm... I'm better." The empty place in his chest begged to differ but he ignored it. "I'm feeling... I'm better."

"Harry what did Dumbledore say to-" Padma began but Harry cut her off.

"There's no time, how much time we got until the first hostage goes?"

"Five minutes." Draco pointed at the clock.

"Good that... that might be enough."

"You're going to fight him aren't you?" Neville asked in a small voice. "You're going down to fight him."

"Yes." Harry nodded, and there was a sudden intake of breath from the marauders. "But I have a plan! Seriously guys, it's ok. I have a plan."

"Do you recall how badly some of your other plans have gone?" Padma asked dryly.

"Oh please, you know I blank those from my memory." Harry grinned. "Anyway I need three things. Things I need your help with."

"You got it Harry." Ginny went into serious mode. "Whatever you need."

"Well firstly I'll need a wand." Harry bit his lip. "And I can't guarantee you'll get it back."

A forest of hands were stretched out towards him. Every single wand. Harry picked one at random and tried a simple charm. It was stuttery and faint. No good. He picked another and almost set his hair on fire. The third the spell came out right but the wand felt weird. The fourth... Harry did first one spell then another... then another... they all came out perfect. His eyes came up to meet Malfoy's grey ones.

"Keep it." The Slytherin boy nodded. "I can afford a new one."

"Thank you." Harry pocketed the wand. "The second thing I need is healing. Just a quick refresher. I'm to tired and banged up to fight like this."

"Here." Ginny drew a bottle out of her robes. "I swiped it from the triage center. I thought you might need it if you came back."

Harry took the bottle with a grin and tipped it back into his mouth. The warm chocolaty liquid seemed to drain into every aching muscle and bone, making him feel like he was well rested and healthy rather than at the edge of weariness.

"And thirdly we need to make something." Harry handed the bottle back. "It'll be tricky but if I handle the charms and someone else does the transfig we should be able to manage it. Oh! And I've thought of a fourth thing. I'll need a distraction."

"Here! Look!" Snape was shocked out of his thoughts by the yell. His eyes found the source in the young Weasley child, crouched down by the fountain. Ginny was furiously jabbing at the pool, waving him over. "It's going clear again. I can see something!" Snape dashed over, staring down into the inky darkness. He could see nothing.

"Where?" Snape asked hurriedly.

"There, there by the corner."

"I see nothing."

"Look."

"Miss Weasley there is nothing there."

"There was!"

"There is not now-" Snape's eyes flickered up to meet those of his student. A flicker of memory twitched behind those eyes. He pushed... No! Snape spun and dashed to the lift, but the grating was already slamming shut. Snape came crashing up against the ward. The magical barrier sparking against his skin like static. He couldn't get through. Before his eyes the dissilusionment fell and Harry Potter was standing there, looking back at him. Snape felt people crowding all around, murmuring, speaking, crying. All pressed up to one side of the barrier, and on the other... just Harry.

"Harry, please." Snape held his hand out to the wall of the ward. "Don't do this."

"Eight people." The kid shrugged. "Eight people or me. Choice is pretty obvious."

"Foolish boy. You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't." Harry nodded, a faint smile on his face. "I'm doing it anyway. Wish me luck."

The lift started down. Snape held Harry's eyes all the way till he was out of sight. Right at the end, just before he disappeared, Snape could have sworn he saw a wink.

The lift grate slid open and Harry stepped warily out into the corridor. The wreckage of battle was everywhere, great gouges gone from the walls and doors blown off their hinges. This wasn't the department of mysteries yet though. Just the courtrooms. Harry's eye whirled wildly as he picked his way around the wreckage. The door to the department came into view, a blank rectangle at the end of a long corridor. Harry could see nothing beyond the door, not even with his magic eye. Some sort of protection must extend around the department of mysteries. For the sake of his plan he hoped it didn't extend _inside_ the department too. Harry raised his wand to his neck and spoke the _sonerous_ charm.

"Tom Riddle!" Harry's amplified voice shook the bricks in the walls. "I'm here." There was a moment's wait, then.

"Welcome Mr Potter." A similarly booming voice sounded down the hallway. "I was not sure you would come."

"Why would I stay away Tommy boy. We're like old friends." Harry was poised to run at any moment if this went wrong. "You've got eight people in there. Those people deserve to get out, so lets make a deal, gentleman's agreement between friends. I go in. All of them go out."

"Those _are_ the terms I gave." Voldemort sounded amused.

Harry waited in silence for a moment... then the door at the end of the corridor swung open. Grinning quietly to himself, Harry walked in. The scene was just as it had been reflected in the pool, the line of captives, the wreckage, and Voldemort standing in the center. The bodies of Fudge and Dumbledore were lying where they fell. The room was the circle room, the spinning room. Rookwood had taken him through it earlier. But it wasn't spinning now, some of the doors had been knocked off their hinges and he could see into the rooms beyond.

"Seen everything you need to Mr Potter?" Voldemort asked icily. "Taken in all the information?"

"Yep," Harry replied chirpily. "So... the prisoners."

"Of course." Voldemort gestured mildly. The chains on the prisoners crashed to the ground.

"Go on guys." Harry stood out of the way so they could get to the doors. "Get out of here." Slowly, the prisoners began to shuffle towards the door.

"They'll be able to get out?" Harry asked. "Past the ward?"

"In only stops people from entering, not from leaving."

"Ok, fine. Wait!" Harry held up a hand, then pointed to Lupin and a muscular looking auror. "Fudge and Dumbledore, take them up with you."

Lupin bent to cradle the body of his teacher and lifted him up. As he passed Harry on the way out their eyes met. Lupin leant down to Harry's ear and whispered,

"I hope he kills you." Harry had to laugh. Some things didn't change.

As the last man trouped out Harry pushed the door shut and locked it. The heavy bolts sliding into place sounded like a hammer.

"Well Mr Potter." Voldemort smiled like a snake. "It is down to just you and me. The kings in our little chess game. The pawns are gone, the rooks are taken. Now it is just down to you and me."

"Have you never even played chess?" Harry quirked an eyebrow. "If all you have is the two kings that's a stalemate snake face. You can't checkmate with one king."

"I was being metaphorical."

Harry rolled his eyes and picked a clear space of floor. He pointed his wand down.

"Calx." A chalk line appeared on the floor. Harry drew his wand around in a rough rectangle then stepped back and measured his handiwork by eye. "Tommy boy give me your opinion. Does that look like fourteen feet to you?"

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?"

"Well we have to have a duel." Harry shrugged. "Might as well do it by the book."

"A _regulation_ wizard's duel?" Voldemort seemed almost ready to chuckle. "My my Mr Potter I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to fight against you and not Dumbledore. It is... so gratifying to be surprised."

"I am unpredictable." Harry shrugged and stepped up to the middle of the rectangle. He put his wand into his pocket and held his hand away from it to show he wasn't touching it. "But I believe that the next step is to bow to one another. Like gentlemens."

"This will be interesting." Voldemort smiled and stepped up to the dueling platform, similarly holstering his wand. "I hope your friends are enjoying this."

"What are you..." Harry paused. "Are they watching?"

"Of course."

"Hmm..." Harry grinned up at the ceiling. "Hope you like this guys. It's going to be one hell of a show."

"Shall we get started?" Voldemort stepped up to the center of the rectangle and bowed. Harry bowed in turn, then stuck out his hand.

"We part as friends." Harry smiled. Voldemort chuckled wryly and encircled Harry's hand in his own. Harry pulled forward and hugged the shocked dark lord. He released him quickly and laughed. "Tom Riddle it's been a pleasure, and an honor."

"Surprising to the end." Voldemort murmured.

"I believe it's seven paces?" Harry turned and heard Voldemort do the same. "One..."

"Two..."

"Three..."

"_Stupefy!_" Harry whirled and jabbed his wand. The spell flared across the room. Just before it hit the dark lord seemed to waver and fade into mist. The spell passed right through his back and exploded in sparks against the wall. Voldemort turned and rematerialized, a mocking sneer on his face,

"Jumping the count Mr Potter? That was your masterful plan?"

"Worth a shot."

"No, Mr Potter. It was not."

"Call me Harry."

"I will not." Voldemort raised his wand. "Goodbye Mr Potter. I wish you all the best in the next world. _Avada Kedavra!_"

Harry closed his eyes and smiled as a flash of light filled the room.


	44. Changeling Child: 10

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 10: Thunderdome

The light snapped off and Harry opened his eyes. Voldemort was staring down at the thing in his hand.

"Hmm..." Harry frowned in mock confusion. "Your wand appears to have turned into a chicken."

The chicken managed to free itself and dropped to the floor. It took a look at the two wizards on either side of it and wisely decided to be elsewhere. Squawking and flapping it scampered through an open door.

"Was it, meant to turn into a chicken?" Harry tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Is this some poultry variant of the killing curse I was not previously aware of? Is that a chicken of death? Or perhaps..." Harry's hand dipped into his pocket. "Were you looking for... _this_ wand."

Voldemort's eyes went wide.

"I mean for god's sake mate. _Never_ let a pickpocket hug you." Harry chuckled. "I mean that's just stupid."

The dark lord's hand twitched to his pocket.

"Oh look!" Harry drew something else from his robes. "And here's your _other_ wand. How did that get in there? Bet you're regretting incinerating all those other wand's now ain't cha?"

"Potter you..." Voldemort boiled with anger. "You... you... you..."

"Me. Me. Me." Harry grinned like a tiger. "The moral of the story Tommy boy is this: Don't you _EVER_ mess with a marauder because we can _bury_ you. And we never lose."

"Potter I will-"

"Shut up." Harry stabbed his wand forward, keeping the other two safe in his left hand. "Shut your ugly murdering face. Happy, civil, '_lets all be B.F.F.s_' time is officially over. Now is the time for the other thing. The bloody hate filled battle that culminates with the killing of you."

"You think you can win?" Voldemort hissed out through clenched teeth. "Even without a wand I am still the dark lord. I am still more than a match for you."

"Evens the playing field a bit though doesn't it." Harry cracked his neck first to one side, then another. "So come on snake face. Hit me. Hit me with your best shot."

The dark lord hissed, his fingers clenching into claws. Then a moment later he exploded into smoke, whisking away through an open door. What the? Harry's magic eye focused through the wall, onto the floor in the next room. On the floor next to a prone body was-

WAND!

Harry's feet moved of their own accord and skidded across the floor to the door. His own wand lashed out.

"_Difindo!_" The wand on the floor snapped just as the cloud coalesced around it and but Harry was already moving again. His eye making walls and doors meaningless. Another body, another wand! He felt the smoke behind him, catching up.

He rolled as it passed overhead and snarled, "_Tempesto!_" The cloud convulsed as wind lashed through it but it stayed together, swirling and reforming like ink. Harry dashed along the floor and snapped the wand up from beside the bundle of robes that was all that was left of the victim of an inferi. He skidded to a halt, his eye dancing madly to find any remaining wands... nothing in the prophecy room...

The cloud circled, reeking of malevolence. Harry could almost feel Voldemort doing the same check that he was, using dark magic to find any remaining weapon. The cloud contracted then shot away like a squid. Harry was off and after it in a second, a second more and his eye had found it's target. The death chamber, a wand rolled into a crack in the floor. Harry pelted through the corridor, the black smoke ahead of him. Too far! Too quick!

Harry threw another tornado ahead of him, kicking up shards of debris but the moment it reached the cloud it was squashed like a frog. The wind going flat in mid air. The smoke disappeared under a door and Harry crashed through it a moment later. The wand! Right there! Voldemort reappeared with a thunderclap and jabbed his hand forward. The wand leapt from the floor and spun towards the dark lord. Harry aimed desperately,

"_Ferio!_"

There was a crack from the air and splinters clattered on the floor. The dark lord's hand snapped back like he'd been stung.

"That's the last of them snake-face." Harry panted. Keeping his wand trained on the dark lord he stepped down the steps till he was next to the fluttering arch. He picked the three wands he'd acquired out of his pocket and chucked them through the veil. The dark cloth fluttered for a moment, then went still. "All wand's out of play, except for my one. And the only way you're getting that is to pry it from my cold dead hands."

"What an excellent suggestion Mr Potter."

Harry had just a moments warning before the orb of darkness flew from the dark lord's hand. Harry spun behind the arch and ducked down.

"_Accio!_" The bench behind Voldemort shot forward towards his head. The dark lord spun and shattered it with a hissed curse. "_Jupitall!_" The ball-lightning hissed from Harry's wand and forced the dark lord to dodge to the side. The orb exploded against the wall, filling the room with sparks. Voldemort spun and cried,

"_Garta!_"

Harry felt the flagstones beneath his feet disappear and he plummeted into darkness. He jabbed his wand straight up.

"_Hammus Missus!_" Chain shot up and slammed into the ceiling far above. "_Rapellet!_" The chain felt like it jerked his arm out of its socket as it pulled him up into the light. As he shot from the ground like a bullet a ball of darkness flew towards him.

Someone not expecting it would have been hit. Someone without a magic eye.

Harry kicked off the edge of the archway and swung out of the way. He let go of the chain and aimed at the dark figure below him.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" The green light left him stunned but he landed like a cat on the side of the stepped arena. The killing curse blew a hole in the wall but Voldemort was dashing away, disappearing through a doorway. "Come back you slimy coward!" Harry was laughing with bloodlust and raced after him, his eye tracking him through the maze of halls. Harry dashed back through the entrance hall and shot into a long room of desks. Voldemort's fleeing shadow was just visible at the other end.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" The nightmare curse sped through the wreckage but Voldemort spun and summoned a desk into it's path. The explosion filled the air with emerald sparks. Three bolts of lightning thundered through the explosion and Harry threw himself to the side. One of them grazed past his leg and he bit back a cry of pain. A freezing charm numbed the burnt flesh as Harry furiously dashed after the dark lord. As he skidded to a halt in the hall of prophecies the dark lord disappeared. Harry furiously glanced one way then the other, but neither eye could pick up a trace. A wisp of spoke curled around one of the shelves, only to disappear a moment later. Harry cursed, the eye wasn't so good for incorporeal things. He slowly turned, letting his eyes sweep through the gaps between the shelves. Voldemort was in here somewhere. Harry closed the door and whispered a vicious trap on anyone who tried to get through it. Voldemort wouldn't be able to break it, some things required a wand.

Harry walked slowly out into the prophecy hall. The glass spheres had not escaped the carnage of the battle, many were left in glittering shards on the marble floor. The little snaps of glass cracked under his boots. Was that smoke? Harry's heart hammered in his chest. Was that a-

FIREBALL! Harry spun and yelled,

"_Ferio!_" The hex blasted into a spinning orb of flames, exploding it in the air and throwing Harry backwards into a shelf. The wood buckled and Harry fell through backwards in a pile of burning splinters. There was an ominous creaking sound and Harry had to scramble to get out of the way of the collapsing shelves. Orbs of shining smoke bounced off his shoulders and shattered on the floor, their white smoke spilling out and going inky black like swirls of midnight.

Harry's eye swirled and he just caught a glimpse of the dark robed figure before he dissolved again. Harry picked himself up and held himself at readiness. This was like a bloody shootout, it was all about who was quicker to the draw. Unfortunately Voldemort didn't actually have to draw... The air moved, Harry moved faster.

"_Symplegades!_" Voldemort appeared out of nowhere but Harry had already cast his spell. The shelves crashed together as if drawn by magnets. The dark lord's shadowy form was trapped between them. Before Harry could cast another spell the shelves exploded outwards, Voldemort stepping out wreathed in flames. He raised his hands, about to become smoke again. Harry stabbed his wand out again.

"_Tartrate!_" It was a wild stab in the dark. The charm was used to make liquids into jelly. Voldemort stumbled, his form blurring a moment but not turning to smoke. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

The dark lord threw his hand forward and a slab of the marble floor was thrown into the air to catch the curse. Voldemort hissed and the fire behind him leapt up into a column of flame, curling and splitting into a glowing red snaked head. The serpent roared and bit forward, it's teeth dripping with molten venom.

"_Excalabus!_" Harry slashed through the burning apparition but his shining sword slipped through it like water, leaving not a scratch. The snake struck forward like a viper and Harry dropped to the floor, his eyebrows charring off his face. "_Ardor-Algidus!_" Harry yelled the flame freezing charm and leapt up into the hellfire monster. He stabbed his wand at the shadow beyond the inferno and yelled the killing curse again. The redness flashed to green and Harry could see the dark lord's shocked expression as he had to dodge a spell from within his own creation.

Harry didn't give him an inch, he threw himself forward, shot another curse at his off balance enemy and found a cloud of black knives flying in his face. He dropped to the floor and heard them clatter behind him. He threw himself to the side but the knives jerked to follow him. He grabbed a plank of shelf from the floor and spun it in front of him, hearing the heavy thunk of the blades impacting the wood. Harry spun to face the dark lord and banished the knives towards him. Voldemort waved his hand distastefully and the knives melted into smoke.

The dark lord was panting, breath hissing in and out through his lipless mouth.

"You cannot win." He hissed, anger and arrogance battling for prominence in his voice. "You must realize that _YOU CANNOT WIN!_"

"Shut. Up. Wanker." Harry gasped through heavy breaths.

"You are just extending your suffering!"

"Isn't that what life is all about?" Harry drew himself up, grinning. "And besides- _Ferio!_" The spell caught the dark lord by surprise, smacking into his shoulder with a bone splintering crack. Voldemort roared and Harry felt the floor under his feet buckle and rumble. He flipped backwards as the ground where he had been standing became a swirling quicksand pit, ready to draw him down into it's depths. Harry danced backwards as stone upon stone became sucking death. His feet hit a shelf and he clambered up like a spider. The shelf lurched as it began to sink into the stone. Harry spun, holding on with one hand and leapt to another towering shelf just before the one he had been standing on was obliterated in a cloud of dark lightning.

It wasn't safe up here. Harry clambered to the top and dashed along the slanting wood. Being up here made him too much of a target. Harry's eye spun to find the dark lord and he almost fell off in shock as he found Voldemort hovering up from the ground with murder in his eyes. The bastard could fly!

"_Tempesto!_" Harry's tornado sprung out of nowhere, drawing sand from the floor and filling the air with yellow-white grains. Harry called another twister, and another. The dark lord disappeared in the sandstorm. Disappeared to normal eyes that is. "_Avada Kedavra!_" Harry shot through the murk at the shadow in the air and dashed away along the top of his shelf, he leapt across to the next one just before a lightning bolt flashed through the air behind him. The dark lord could not see him in all this but he could see where his spells were coming from. Only a fool attacked and stayed in the same place... unless...

"_Acerbus cuspis!_" Harry called the pain spears, flashing out in their slow fan. He twisted them in the air like a snake to strike the dark lord from both sides. He was rewarded with a howl of pain as one of the shining bolts struck home. Harry cast again but the dark lord summoned a silver shield. "_Motus!_" Harry didn't even have to think. He just struck out and made the dread orb vibrate with unbearable noise. He twisted to find the resonance but Voldemort was slyer than Michelson and cancelled the orb. Harry turned to run but the dark lord was quicker and lightning caught his arm, burning like hell. Harry lost his footing and dropped off the side of the teetering shelf.

Harry spun his tornado and blew himself up into the air again, shooting like a rag-doll through the sandstorm until his fingers caught the edge of a shelf and he held on for dear life. He pulled himself up and tried to stand, his eye spinning to find the dark lord. There he was, but what-

"_Ulkaa Avaskanda!_" The shrill cold voice of the dark lord shouted out of the storm, then. "_Finite Syrtis!_"

The sand vanished like mist but Harry had bigger problems. He leapt into the air as rocks the size of cars obliterated the shelves behind him. His feet hit another shelf but it was already shattering and falling. Harry's wand whipped out and a hook impacted into the ceiling. Harry swung out over the expanse of nothingness. A boulder came hurtling out of nowhere but Harry still had his storm.

The wind pulled him out of the path of the meteor with a whisk of his wand and he let go of the chain, catapulting himself onto a standing shelf. He leapt again and saw two boulders hurtling towards him. His wand flashed out again and one rock veered into the path of the other, shattering them both to fragments. Harry felt the wood beneath him shift again and this time let it carry him down a moment before leaping off and dropping to another collapsing shelf, his eye found firm footing and he jumped again as the last shelf collapsed into splinters.

Harry dropped to the top of a pile of wreckage. A pile three times as tall as he was and full of broken wood, shattered glass and the smouldering remains of spent boulders. Harry waited while the last of the crashing and clattering stopped, then folded his arms.

Voldemort was hovering in the air level with Harry. The dark lord slowly floated down to the floor (which Harry idly noted was back to being marble) and settled back down onto his feet. Harry watched with a crooked eyebrow. Voldemort's teeth clenched in rage as he stared up at Harry standing on his pedestal of ruin.

"What are you?" Voldemort sneered through his teeth. "You should not be alive! No human should be alive!"

"What makes you think I'm human snake face?" Harry smiled evilly. "Aren't you the one who's always saying we're better than mere mortals?"

"_DO NOT MOCK ME!_"

"But you make it so easy!" Harry put his hands on his hips. "Anyway, it's hard not to mock you when I'm winning!"

"_YOU ARE NOT WINNING!_"

"I'm not loosing." Harry grinned. The dark lord's fists clenched but he said nothing. Harry smiled. "Of course, you could surrender."

"Surrender?" Voldemort spat the word. "Surrender to _you!?_"

"Hey mate, you're the one that wants to live forever." Harry cracked his knuckles. "You won't live forever if you surrender but I can guarantee you'll live longer than if you keep fighting. Not _much_ longer but still..."

"I ask again Mr Potter!" Voldemort raised an accusing finger. "What are you?"

"Me? I'm the runner of the roofs at night." Harry laughed. "The hero of the blood war. The only survivor of the torrent of ages and the Hogwarts triwizard champion."

"But-"

"I'm the mirror-blade," Harry spread his arms wide. "Serpent's bane and wolf-slayer. I'm the buccaneer of the Spirit of Njordr."

"You-"

"And, to my distress, I am Dumbledore's little _changeling child_."

"What-"

"But that doesn't matter because I'm also a marauder! Invincible cutthroat bastard and badass extraordinaire! I. Am. Harry. Potter! The choosing one!" Harry trained his wand on the dark lord, his face set in unshakable resolve. "That is why you should surrender. Right now. Or I swear on this pile of prophecy that I will burn you from this world."

Voldemort took an involuntary step backwards, faltering before Harry's stare.

"Last chance." Harry snarled. Voldemort straightened up, his eyes burning red.

"Never." The dark lords hands clenched to fists. "I will never surrender to a _half blood boy_ like you."

"Whatever," Harry grinned. "In that case... suck it bitch! _Depulso!_" Harry jammed his wand straight down and the pile of wreckage exploded out in all directions, the wood becoming deadly splinters and the rock singing out in razor sharp shards. The dark lord threw up a silver shield but Harry was already on the ground. With a flick of his wand the shield screeched and Voldemort threw it away from him as if it was red hot. Harry rolled to the side to dodge a spray of black orbs and threw his wand up. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

The dark lord fled through a door and Harry rushed to follow, casting death curses before him. Harry vaulted a desk and skidded through a door only to find his body rising into the air. A lightning bolt grazed his shoulder and Harry was spun around like a top. Planets were floating in this room! There must be some spell screwing with gravity!

Harry shot a hook at Saturn and pulled himself out of the way just before another lightning bolt flashed through the air. Harry jabbed his wand at the sun and yelled,

"_Confringo!_" The ball of plasma exploded but Harry cast another flame-freezing charm and pushed off Saturn directly into the inferno. From behind the cover of flame Harry shot a killing curse at the dark lord but had to twist in the air to stop his head being taken off by a dark blade flickering through the air. He had used the flame-cover trick one too many times. Well lets try another.

"_Esurio Esurio!_" Harry aimed at the spinning red planet next to Voldemort. It grew a gaping mouth and snapped angrily at the dark lord, who blew it into fragments but Harry had already trained his wand back on the dark lord. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

Voldemort swung a chunk of planet into the path of the spell and fled, pushing open a door Harry hadn't even seen. He pushed off the wall and floated weightlessly after him. As soon as he reached the door he dropped to the floor again and raced through, skidding to a stop when he saw where he was.

In total contrast to the rest of the department this room was a sort of zoo. Cages full of creatures filled the room up to the ceiling and were stacked in a pile in the middle. Some looked normal, some... not so much. Harry shuddered as his eye flickered over a mutated blob of flesh with what he sincerely hoped was not a human arm coming out of it. His magic eye swirled in it's socket, trying to get a fix on Voldemort but all the life and movement in the way made it tricky.

Harry tried to trace out the room. Long, not so wide... The door at the other end was closed. That meant that Voldemort was either at the wall behind one of the cages at the side or crouched down behind one of the ones in the middle. Harry grinned,

"_Alohomora!_" He pointed his wand at the pile of cages in the center and all their bars sprung open. Creatures scattered in every direction. Something that looked like a mutant wolf made a starved leap at the cages to the left and was thrown back by a spell. There! Harry's wand was trained there in a moment. "_Confringo!_" The hex blasted the cage out of the way, revealing Voldemort's grey skin. "_Avada K-_" Harry had to break off the curse to duck behind a desk as more orbs of darkness rained through the air. Harry heard a door slam open and leapt up from where he was crouched. He dashed to the door and swung through, his wand out.

The death chamber! Back here! Harry saw Voldemort just reaching the door at the other side of the dimly lit room and aimed his wand.

"_Colloportus!_" The door squelched and glowed red. Harry spun and locked the other doors too. In a moment he had his wand trained back on the dark lord. Voldemort was just staring at him from the other side of the vast room, his lips contoured into a sneer. He clearly knew he could break the poxy locking spell, but doing so would give Harry the moment he needed to kill him. Harry tried to keep his breath even as he spoke, "Got you. No more running."

"Then you have signed your own death warrant." Voldemort slowly stepped down the side of the chamber.

"I doubt that." Harry mirrored the dark lord and slowly walked down the steps. "I rarely sign things."

"I will cast you through the veil myself."

"What...ever." Harry shrugged. "I've had enough of your self important threats. Time for the showdown. Let's end this."

"Nothing would please me more Mr Potter!" Voldemort reached the bottom of the room. Harry was just a step behind him. They stared at each other from opposite sides of the pedestal that held the arch of the veil. Voldemort's lip curled up in a sneer. "If I had my wand you would have died long ago."

"That would be why I nicked it." Harry chuckled. "And anyway... _Lumos!_" Harry jammed his wand towards Voldemort and the ray cut through the dimness like a spotlight. Voldemort threw his hands up to protect his eyes. "_Avada Kedavra!_"

The dark lord dropped to the floor, letting the spell pass over his head and jabbed his arm up at the ceiling. The shadows above them became alive, a writhing cauldron of darkness. Harry dodged wildly as a tentacle of night shot down and tried to wrap itself around him. Harry felt another grab his leg.

"_Excalabus!_" The tentacle was sheered off but Harry had been thrown to the floor and had to roll as bolts of thunder slammed into the flagstones where he had been lying. A ball of blackness caught the side of his leg, simply obliterating flesh and skin. Harry screamed and pulled himself to his feet, jumping out of the way of another tentacle. He had to get rid of that thing! He couldn't fight it and the dark lord at the same time! But how to kill something like that... How else? Harry jabbed his wand at the ceiling. "_Avada Kedavra!_" The green spell impacted the dark creature and it wailed in pain, it's tentacles going limp.

Harry spun back to face Voldemort just in time for an black orb to take a chunk out of his shoulder. He was bleeding too much. Had to end this! The dark lord raised his hand for another bolt of lightning. Harry tore two flagstones from the ground and hurled them in the path of the spell, one after the other. The first was blown to splinters but the second, hidden by the cloud of rubble, shot through like a marble discus and crashed with a hideous crunch into Voldemort's ribcage.

The dark lord was thrown back, his arm coming up to cradle his injured chest. Harry pressed his advantage and Voldemort was driven back by spell after spell. The dark lord was pushed onto to the steps and stumbled back, lying prone against the stone. He seemed exhausted.

"_Avada Ke-_"

"_Fulgar Fletch!_" The dark lord's hand swung up! It had been a trick! Harry saw a cloud of black blades erupt out of nothing and sail towards him. He had no protection! He could not dodge! There was just one chance...

"_Protego!_" Harry called out desperately and was driven back as the knives clattered against his weak shield. Harry let it go and stepped forward, only to have his knees buckle and drop him on the floor. What the? Harry tried to stand but his legs wouldn't move. Was this some sort of curse? Harry looked down and saw the reason.

There was a knife embedded to the hilt in his stomach. Two more in his leg. Draining blood down his thigh and pooling on the floor.

"Bloody shield..." Harry's arms dropped down, suddenly too weak. His wand rolled away on the dark stone. He hadn't felt the knifes go in, adrenalin perhaps, but he felt it now. Pain and fire raging out from the hole in his abdomen. "Bloody... Shield... And I was doing so well..."

"Yes Mr Potter you were." The dark lord picked himself up from the steps and dusted his robes off. Now that he had won the friendly, almost fatherly, tone was back. "I applaud you."

"I could have beaten you ya know." Harry coughed weakly and saw droplets of blood spray from his mouth. "The very first spell I threw. Back when I jumped the count. Back when you had the fake wand. If you'd have just tried to shield like any normal wizard... I could have won on the first spell. That was... that was the plan."

"It was a good plan." Voldemort must have seen no reason to be angry now that he had won. "Against a normal wizard it would have no doubt worked."

"Damn it." Harry raised his hand to spread his fingers around the knife blade in his stomach, but he couldn't stop the blood. His life was draining out onto the floor. The ones in his leg would maim him. The one in his stomach meant he was dead.

"Do you have any last words my beloved enemy?" Voldemort asked calmly. "I did not hear any satisfactory ones from Dumbledore. Anything?"

"Can't think of anything..." Dark dots swam before Harry's eyes. He had failed. "Are my friends still watching?"

"Oh yes." Voldemort nodded. "I would not have the wizarding public miss this event."

"Then my last words are... keep fighting." Harry raised his eyes to meet Voldemort's. "Keep fighting him."

"Not very original." The dark lord shrugged. "But better than Dumbledore's."

"And..." Blood was pooling beneath Harry's legs. "And tell Thea I tried."

"An admirable sentiment."

"That's..." Darkness was closing in on Harry. "That's all I got."

"Very well." Voldemort raised his hand. "I shall miss you. My... interesting opponent." Voldemort opened his mouth to speak the last words Harry would ever hear.

"Wait." Harry whispered, he had no strength to speak normally. "I've thought of some better last words."

"Really?" Voldemort asked, amused. "And?"

"_The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies._" Harry's whispered words rang out in the quiet room. "_Born to those who... those who..._"

"Have thrice defied him." Voldemort prompted, his eyes suddenly desperate. "Yes? Yes?"

"_Thrice defied him._" Harry licked his lips, his voice was barely coming out now. "_And the dark lord will mark... will mark him..._"

"Yes? What then?" Voldemort leant close in to listen.

"_Mark him as his equal..._" Harry's lips were barely moving, his words just disturbances in the air. "_But the dark... the dark..._"

"Yes..." Voldemort put his hands on Harry's shoulders, steadying him. "Please finish it!"

"_The dark lord, shall never..._" Harry's eyes were closed. "_Shall never learn._"

"What?" Voldemort's eyes narrowed to slits.

"_The dark lord... shall never learn._"

"What did you say?"

"I said you _never bloody learn!_" Harry's eyes flicked open. "Do you?"

Powered by the last gasp of dying rage Harry pulled the knife from his flesh and drove it into Voldemort's neck. Harry fell backwards as blood fountained from his stomach and his eyes clouded black. As he slipped away and his heart stopped beating all he could hear was the rustling of the veil.


	45. Changeling Child: 11

Harry Potter and the Changeling Child Chapter 11: The Orchard

The first thing Harry sensed was the scent of apple blossoms. It was a smell he knew very well. His eyes flickered open and looked up onto the familiar dappled leaves of the orchard in his dreams. It was exactly as it had always been, green and full of life.

Harry was lying on the floor. How had he got there? He lifted his arms up and realized that his blood soaked and battle scared garments were gone, replaced by a simple white robe. That wasn't all that was missing either. Harry's fingers went up to his eye, poking it lightly.

"Ow!" Flesh, not glass. Harry shook his head, realizing what must have happened. Eye's did not grow back, orchards did not spring out of nothing. "I'm dead. I died."

Harry breathed out, a long sigh of sadness. He had done his best, his very, very best. He had tried to survive. He had tried to not leave the world of the living, had tried not to leave his friends.

_There are people that will suffer if you die, even if you take Voldemort with you_

"I tried Thea." Harry felt a lump in his throat. "Oh god I tried. But he was better than me. He was... he was better. I mean I knew he was, really. I just hoped I could skew the odds enough to let me win. Let me live. I guess I was wrong."

Harry looked up at the trees, bearing blossoms and fruit all at once in an impossible, but beautiful, tableau. He was glad he had ended up here, not back at Godrics Hollow.

"I did take him with me though." Harry spoke the bitter words. "I got him good."

The wind rustled lightly through the trees. He thought he could almost, just almost, hear children laughing. Harry sat down and set his back against a tree and closed his eyes. If this was the afterlife then he knew one thing for sure. Before he met any pearly gatekeepers or had his sins weighed against a feather or whatever he was sitting right here and having a rest. The legions of hell could not move him from that spot.

The wind whistled through the trees and for a moment Harry though he could hear voices.

_"Stop her! Don't let her get to the body!"_

"She's got a portkey!"

The voices faded. Harry shrugged, that kind of thing probably happened all the time when you were dead.

Harry's hand wormed it's way along the ground and found an apple. It was nice and hard, fallen recently. He brought it up to his mouth and bit into it, letting the juices run down his face. It tasted a little bitter, just a little.

Harry heard the grass in front of him disturbed by footfalls. Someone was there. He opened his eyes slowly, and arched his eyebrows when he saw who it was.

"Didn't expect to see you here." Harry commented dryly. "Though I suppose I should have."

"May I sit down?" Dumbledore asked, his voice bearing a serenity it had not held in life.

"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "I mean were all dead here aren't we. Maybe Elvis and Merlin will join us next."

"I doubt that Harry, Elvis isn't dead." Dumbledore frowned suddenly. "I apologize, you asked me not to call you-"

"You can call me Harry." Harry smiled. "Don't worry about it."

"But I do worry." Dumbledore shook his head. "I can never apologize to you enough for what I did to you. No words could ever suffice. I... I am only glad that I got this one last chance to tell you how sorry I am. My crime was unforgivable."

"Apparently it wasn't seeing as you're here and not in a big fiery place with lots of pitchforks." Harry chuckled and rested his arms behind his head.

"You seem," Dumbledore was picking his words carefully. "You seem at peace with what I did. More than the last time I saw you at least."

"Mate, I can never forgive you, so don't ask me to." Harry sighed and shook his head. "I don't think I can ever forgive you but at the same time... I get why you did it. You were in a bad place, everything was riding on your shoulders. I mean look at me, today I cast an unforgivable curse ten... maybe twenty times. And before that, over the course of this year I've killed... people. Several people. We all do what we think we have to do. You did what... what you thought you had to do, at the time. I can't forgive you for it. You playing with my head. Making me your Frankenstein's monster. Your changeling child. You... took me and changed me. Changed who I am, put memories in my head. You said you put your memories of James Potter in my head. I can feel them in there now... How much of it is me? Is any of this me? Or am I just a poor copy of Harry... Or worse a poor copy of James Potter. Am I? Answer me truthfully. Please."

"I..." Dumbledore dropped his eyes to the floor. "I do not know how much of your original personality survived. Integrating memories is never fully successful, not from one person to another, but there is no way to tell how much mixing there has been. There is a chance that the memories settled harmlessly into your subconscious, but then again..."

"There's a chance they didn't."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Harry sighed, "I mean before I went and cut out my eye and everything."

"I... There were many reasons." Dumbledore looked away into the distance. "You see it was very easy to... to _not_ remember what I had done. To not think of it. I mean there you were, looking like Harry, acting like James. It was easy to fall into the trap of thinking you were... that you were..."

"Real?"

"That you were not the living proof of my sins." Dumbledore shook his head. "At least that was the reason at first. I simple did not want to acknowledge what I had done. Then, later on, after you had defeated the basilisk, after you had come back from the torrent of ages, I began to think perhaps I would not have to. You had proved yourself a hero so I though... perhaps no one would ever have to know. Perhaps I could let you fill Harry's place and never tell you. I thought I could let you take the burden. I am not proud of that. I should have known the prophecy could not be so easily avoided."

"Is it possible I still can take his place?" Harry pointed at his wrist. "I mean, the dark lord did mark me."

"Harry he did not mark you as his equal he marked you as his servant." Dumbledore shook his head. "And besides, I can count on my fingers the people who have thrice defied Voldemort. I would have known if one of them had been with child."

Harry sighed. As he did the wind seemed to murmur, carrying to him distant voices. He strained his ears to hear,

_"Help him! For Merlin's sake help him!" Was that... Hermione?_

"Shut up and let me by." Snape's voice cut across her.

"His heart's not beating!"

"Of course It's not beating he doesn't have any blood left you hysterical idiot. Each of you, give me your hands. It's a good thing Harry acquired so many hangers-on, one of you has to be his blood type."

The voices faded into the breeze. Harry's brow furrowed.

"Did you hear that?" He asked Dumbledore.

"No, but then I'm a little more dead than you are." Dumbledore smiled.

"So I'm... I'm not dead?" Harry felt hope rise in his heart.

"You are dead, technically. Your heart is not beating." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "But I believe that, with time and a generous donation of good red blood, you may be pulled back into the world of the living."

"So... Is this actually you then?" Harry scratched his head. "Is this actually the afterlife or just another dream?"

"This is the afterlife." Dumbledore nodded. "And I am, more or less, who I appear to be."

"How?"

"The fact that you are near death coupled with the fact that you died mere meters from the veil." Dumbledore shrugged. "I am just glad I got a last chance to speak to you."

"Well I assume we'll meet again... eventually." Harry cracked a smile. "When I'm old and gray and die in a bed surrounded by beautiful women."

The old wizard and the young laughed. A thought struck Harry and the mirth dimmed.

"So, while I have you here, can I ask you something?"

"Of course Harry, anything."

"What is my name?"

"I... I do not know." Dumbledore hung his head. "I am sorry Harry. I erased the memory from my own mind so I would never call you it. Never slip up... But I can tell you the orphanage where I found you. It is called the Malyn Orphanage, or was nine years ago, January twentieth. It stands about ten miles south of Belfast. If records exist then, well then you might be able to find them there."

"Malyn Orphanage. January twentieth..." Harry whispered. Then, "So I'm Irish?"

"Yes Harry. You're Irish." Dumbledore cracked a whimsical smile.

"Interesting." Harry, who had lived his life with a London accent thick enough to float bricks on, chuckled. "So, do you think there might even be records of my parents?"

"I do not think so." Dumbledore looked away, not meeting Harry's eyes. He seemed to be picking his words carefully. "I do not think that you will find records of them there."

"What aren't you telling me?" Harry felt the emptiness grow. "Were they wizards? Were they death eaters?"

"No Harry nothing like that." Dumbledore shook his head. "In fact I believe we can safely assume both your parents were muggles. Let me explain, when I took you from the orphanage they told me a little about you. About how you had come to be there. Apparently you were not given to them in the normal fashion, you were... found. Found by an elderly couple walking along the Lagan river. The river was bursting it's banks a little after a storm and they saw a little bundle washed up in the mud. When they unwrapped you they thought you were dead, I was told that you were blue all over from the cold and damp, but so weak you weren't even shivering. You had been in the water for a long time."

Crashing rocks. Raging white water. Harry's mind shied away from the flashes of terror in his mind and he felt his breath quicken. The raging torrent in his mind banishing all though was real, a memory so scaring even Dumbledore had been unable to erase. His only real memory was a phobia. Another bitter joke. He licked his lips, had to say something, anything to take his mind off it.

"How old was I?"

"About six months old, give or take." Dumbledore answered. "The couple gave you to the authorities and of course an investigation was made. Unfortunately nothing was ever found. And, inevitably, you ended up in the hands of the child services. The story after that is, well, rather as you might guess it."

"It could have been an accident." Harry spoke, not daring to hope. "You make it sound like my parents tried to kill me but it didn't have to happen that way. Maybe I was swept away from my family. You said there were floods."

"I... I do not think that was the case Harry." A tear rolled down Dumbledore's cheek. "You see, I have something the muggle authorities did not. I have my map. That was the reason Lupin knew. I needed him to find it and show me how to use it, or it could have revealed the truth."

"The map- Or course!" Harry smiled, his eyes lighting up. "It should show my real name! That's why you kept it hidden and everything! What does it say?"

"Harry the map does not show your name." Dumbledore brushed the tear away. "Do you know how the map works?"

"No."

"It works by making use of an ancient type of magic, the magic of names." Dumbledore's voice took on a lecturing tone, but Harry could still hear the lump in his throat. "There is an old wizard superstition. An old wives tale, if you will, that a wizard's name is tied to their destiny. That the name first given to a wizard somehow sets his path. There was once a great fad for concealing one's true name so that enemies could not gain power over you. Foolishness really, in those days someone's true name was easy enough to divine. That is what the map does in any case. It works by the magic of names."

"Yeah," Harry motioned the late Headmaster to continue. "And?"

"And for you it displays nothing Harry." Dumbledore closed his eyes sadly. "On the map your name is blank. Just a set of footprints and an empty scroll."

"Oh..." Harry let the silence grow between them. He couldn't really think of anything to fill it.

"Do you understand what that means Harry? It means-"

"I know what it means." Harry said quietly. "It means my parents never named me before they threw me away."

"Harry..."

"I was six months old. Six months they had me and didn't even care enough to..." Harry slammed his fist into the ground. "I guess I'm better off without them."

_"Is his heart beating? I can barely-"_

"Is that a pulse... it was there I swear it was there."

Harry let the voices on the wind die away. He sighed, looking up into the calming dappled sunlight.

"Harry are you alright?" Dumbledore asked. "I realize that this is a great deal to take in on top of-"

"I'm alright." Harry swallowed painfully. "I mean I'm not alright, really. But I'll be alright. I can already tell. I'll be aright. I mean after all the other bombshells this doesn't really tip the scales that much does it. Like a molehill beside a smoking volcano."

"I'm just sorry that I was once again the bearer of bad news." Dumbledore squinted at Harry, his eyes narrowing. "You are fading. Not long before you can no longer touch this place. Is there anyone else here you would like to speak to?"

"I... I don't know." Harry scratched his head. "Most of my friends are still alive."

"A blessing."

"So I can call anyone then?" Harry asked slyly. "Anyone dead and they have to come?"

"Yes, anyone dead."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." Harry said the dread name loudly into the wood, only faint echoes came back. "He's not dead then." Harry's hands clenched into fists.

"No," Dumbledore shook his head. "I believe you have Bella to thank for that again. She snuck in when the wards came down and spirited his body away right under your friends' noses using an emergency portkey. Rather careless of them. Alastor is probably beating himself up right now."

"I though I got him." Harry gritted his teeth. "I thought I got-"

"He will be severely weakened." Dumbledore stepped forward and laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Perhaps as badly as he was fifteen years ago. This is a victory Harry, it will be years, possibly decades before he can rise again. And if we can catch him while he is weak and finish him off, so much the better."

"I guess." Harry tried to see the good side. It wasn't easy. "Well let's try... Barty Crouch Jr." Again the forest remained empty but for the two of them. Harry grimaced, he hadn't really hoped that the slimy bastard was dead. But it would have been a welcome surprise.

"Is there not anyone you actually wish to speak to Harry?" Dumbledore asked, fading a little as he did so. "No one in this world? Perhaps the real Harry Potter?"

"I've already met him. Twice actually now that I think about it."

"How could you possibly..."

"Well once was years ago when I traveled through time and met him before he died." Harry checked that off on his fingers. "And the second time me sent a message here from another dimension." At Dumbledore's shocked expression Harry grinned. "I lead a very weird life."

"But interesting."

"Oh yes, very interesting." Harry smiled. "All in all I think I'll let him and his parents rest in peace. After what I did to their statue I don't think I could face them. Anyways, goodbye old man. I'll see you again in a long long while."

"I hope so Harry."

"This is weird." Harry chuckled and looked around. "Why does it feel like we're having this whole conversation two books early?"

"Simple Harry," Dumbledore smiled. "Until now you have been walking someone else's path. From this point on, you'll have to make your own."

"Good." Harry nodded. "I'm ready."

"I know you are Harry." Dumbledore continued to fade. "I know you are. Oh wait, may I ask you something before I go?"

"Shoot."

"What became of my wand?"

"Your wand..." Harry thought back. "Oh... I threw it through the veil along with Voldemort's. Sorry did you want to be buried with it or something?"

"No no Harry." Dumbledore smiled broadly, a mysterious twinkle in his fading eye. "Just curious." And with that the old wizard faded into nothing, and was gone. Harry chuckled.

"You had to have the last word didn't you. Git."

The air seemed to change texture. Harry breathed out softly, he was alive again. He could feel his heartbeat in his chest. Weak, but there. Harry glanced around at the orchard. It was exactly the same as before but it felt different. He was dreaming now, just a regular dream. Harry let his eyes close slowly. He would wake up in good time, but until then? He was fine here. For now.

Snape reached his apartments in Hogwarts and barely got the door shut before falling into a chair. There was a bed in the next room, but it suddenly seemed very far away. Truth be told he could have fallen asleep in the middle of the great hall, on the floor. He would have been the laughing stock of every student though. Even worse he probably wouldn't have woken up when they started laughing at him, even when they started poking him.

Snape raised his wand shakily and levitated the forgotten bottle of wine off his table. It had been left open, no matter. He poured himself a glass.

He had stood in the waiting room in St Mungos for longer than he could remember while incompetent healers told him they had no information. When they had finally told him that Harry was out of the woods all his nervous energy had leeched out and it had taken all of his mental strength to stop himself sagging to the floor right there. He had managed to fool most of them. He had not fooled Natalie.

She had apparated him back to Hogwarts and made him swear to sleep as soon as he got to his room. Who was she to order him around like that? Why could she? Snape's lips curled into a smile. Because she was interesting enough to get away with it and was the only one who could pull it off. Which just added to the interest of course. Snape smiled as the wine curled down the back of his throat. He was very lucky in many respects. Luckier than he deserved.

"Severus are you in there?" There was a knock on the door. Not Natalie. Snape flicked his wand and the door creaked open. Minerva stood on the other side, looking as tired as he felt.

"Minerva." Snape tried to sit a little less like he was falling asleep. "It is good to see you safe, in all the confusion in the ministry I lost track. Come in. Would you like some wine?"

"No thank you." Minerva stepped inside. Now that she was closer he could see that the edges of her eyes held telltale signs of tears. She had tried to hide it, but to the trained eye it was quite obvious. "I heard you were back in the castle and came down to see you."

"Anything in particular bothering you?" Snape asked, perhaps more caustically than was necessary. "I am rather tired you see."

"Yes, there is something." Minerva pulled a hard backed chair over and sat down stiffly. "When you went off to St Mungos I called the remaining order together, there was much to discuss."

"I can imagine that there would be." Snape yawned theatrically. He did not have to fake it. "I cannot imagine how that would concern me however, I am no longer a member."

"That is partially what we were discussing." Minerva cocked her head to one side. "Voldemort is weakened but not dead. The order's task is far from done and we could more than use your expertise. Your primary reason for leaving was Albus. I will not presume to ask the details of that disagreement, it was between the two of you. But do you not think that now he is... gone, that you might be persuaded to come back to us?"

"That would depend on who replaced him." Snape said levelly. "For example if it were yourself leading the order, I would have no objection."

"I will not be leading the order." McGonagall shook her head. "I will have quite enough to do here at Hogwarts. The job of headmistress is enough for me. It has been hard enough to persuade parents to send their children to Hogwarts this year. I imagine next year may be a little easier but I am sure I will still have my hands full. And besides, I will need to find a new transfiguration teacher."

"Shacklebolt then." Snape waved a hand vaguely. "He has always been very capable."

"Kingsley Shacklebolt may very well be the only thing currently keeping the ministry from falling apart." Minerva smiled faintly. "He was the most senior auror to survive this debacle so I believe he will be ever more busy than I myself will be."

"There are other candidates." Snape was fully alert now. He could feel where this was going. "Alastor Moody."

"Too paranoid."

"Arthur Weasley."

"Has no combat or strategic experience."

"Natalie. Natalie Zhao. She is-"

"Very new to the order."

"Remus Lupin then, he has been with the order since-"

"Remus has grown unpredictable recently. Especially where Harry is concerned." Minerva fixed Snape with a level stare. "I believe we can agree that whoever should head the order should be someone Harry trusts. Someone like you."

"No."

"Someone who knows how the dark lord thinks."

"No."

"Severus listen to me." Minerva leant closer to him. "Do you not think we discussed all these things in amongst ourselves in the order?"

"If I had been there I would have had a few things to say!"

"Severus please." Minerva's eyes dropped to the floor. "This past year Albus... well you yourself saw. I do not speak ill of the dead but he had become... tired. He was not the Dumbledore we all knew. He was not acting at his best."

Snape stayed silent. Not at his best was a horrific understatement if ever he heard one but there was no need to say so.

"In any case he was faltering. We all saw it, everyone in the order. But no one did anything about it. Except you." Minerva shook her head. "Perhaps we were all, how did you put it? 'Trapped in the past.' Except you."

"I... I cannot lead the order." Snape tried to make his voice not sound like that of a rat at bay. "I was a death eater, I fell into dark magic. A long time ago yes but some marks do not come out."

"Yours has."

"That is not what I meant!" Snape took a deep gulp of wine. "I am... _tainted_. Undeserving."

"Albus always said he did not deserve the prominence he was given."

"Do not compare me to-" Snape bit back the end of that angry sentence. There was no to take out his anger on the messenger. "I merely meant that I do not think it is safe to give me this kind of power."

"Albus also said that those who seek power are those least suited to wield it." Minerva held his eyes. "The corollary of that is that those who are suited to wield power are those who reject it."

"Do not _quote_ at me."

"Severus, there is no one else who can do the job as well as you. No one else."

"No one else." Snape felt like chuckling. "That is what it always comes down to doesn't it? We all do what we must."

"I always have." Minerva stood. "So you will take the task?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"You do, but I already know how you will choose."

"You knew before you stepped through that door." Snape sneered. "I am trapped like a rabbit."

"Only by your own traps Severus." Minerva smiled and turned to the door.

"You know that I will do things differently than Dumbledore." Snape said suddenly. "There will be changes."

"I know, I look forward to them." McGonagall nodded, and left the room.

Snape rubbed his forehead. He should begin planning, there was much to do. No, he should not. Right now he had a promise to keep. Shedding his robe tiredly, he walked towards his bed.

"Harry... Harry open your eyes."

Harry woke from deep dreaming, the sparkling silver voice in his ears.

"I'm awake," Harry murmured, his eyes closed. "But I'm still in my orchard. I can smell the blossoms."

"You are still asleep, in St Mungos." Water rippling over shining stones. "I wanted to talk to you but you're on a great deal of medication. It was simpler for me to just come to you."

"And where are you?" Harry's lips twitched up into a smile.

"Sitting beside your bed."

Harry chuckled, and opened his eyes.

"Hello Thea."

"Hello Harry." The young seer was sitting cross legged under a tree in front of him, looking like the human image of serenity. Instead of her usual white robe she was wearing a simple brown dress, she seemed almost part of the forest. She looked... different, somehow different. It was not her face, she was still the same beautiful girl he had always known, or her eyes, mismatched as they were. Her silver hair was caught up into a long tail down her back, tied with blue ribbon. She looked exactly the same but there was something missing. Gone was the sense of ancientness, the feeling that the little soul in front of him had outlasted empires. She seemed... young, the same age as him give or take a year. Harry supposed she always had been. It did not take much to guess the reason for the change.

"You're not the oracle anymore." Harry guessed, guiltily.

"No, I'm not." Pythea smiled. "I was sacked."

"I'm sorry." Harry hung his head. "It was because you were helping me, wasn't it?"

"Yes, they finally caught on." Pythea reached forward and tilted Harry's chin up. "Don't feel guilty, not even for a moment. I was miserable there, almost a prisoner. I'm happy to be gone."

"You don't have to tell me that just to-"

"It is the truth."

"But it was your home." Harry sighed. "I'm going to feel guilty whatever you say, you can't stop me."

"Stubborn."

"Brat."

"I am not." Pythea smiled warmly. "Do you have any idea what you will do now? After you are released from hospital I mean."

"I... I have somewhere I want to go."

"The orphanage?"

"Hey, you reading my mind again?" Harry smiled mysteriously. "Don't I get any secrets?"

"I cannot read minds anymore Harry." Thea shook her head. "That came with being the oracle remember. I just know you."

"But you're still a seer, right?" Harry hesitated to ask.

"Oh yes, there are some things they cannot take away." Pythea nodded. "I am still a seer, and a very powerful one."

"Can you... can you tell me my future?" Harry asked suddenly.

"No. I can't." Pythea smiled and stood. "Do you want to go to the orphanage now?"

"Now?" Harry scratched his head. "Aren't I in hospital?"

"A short walk will not inconvenience a mighty hero like you too much." Pythea crooked an eyebrow mockingly.

"A short walk? We have to get to Ireland ya know."

"Then it is lucky that another thing they cannot take away is my international apparition license." Pythea held out her hand. "Just tell me where Harry. And we can go."

Harry reached out and took her hand.

"Ow." Harry's hand went to his stomach as pain flared there through the hospital sheets. "That really hurts."

"I told you it would." Pythea was sitting exactly where she said she was, at the side of his bed. "The knife was made with dark magic so the wound can't be magically healed. You'll have to let it knit together the old fashioned way. Is it too much? Do you wish to wait till tomorrow?"

"No no. It just surprised me is all." Harry slowly lowered his feet to the floor and gingerly stood. He had to hunch just a little to stop the skin of his stomach stretching painfully, but he could walk. No he couldn't. His leg was mangled too. Maybe he could hop... "Do you have my clothes somewhere? Oh wait my bag's right here. Can you turn so I can-"

Pythea cut him off with a wave of her hand. His hospital gown changed into a simple white t-shirt and trousers. Muggle enough to be getting on with. With another wave a carved wooden cane appeared in his hand. Obviously she did not think he was as healthy as said he was. Damn her for being right.

"Thank you." Harry smiled and picked up his bag from beside the bed. "Shall we go then?"

Pythea stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his tender middle. This close Harry could smell her hair, like green grass and the sea. He was breathing faster, probably because of all the potions they had him on.

"Are you ready?" She asked.

"Yes." Harry shut his eyes and waited. And waited... He opened them again and cocked his head to one side. "Is there a problem?"

"You still haven't told me where we're going." Pythea clicked her tongue irritably. "Not being able to read peoples thoughts is going to take some getting used to."

"I'm sorry. I really am." Harry apologized again, earning him a level stare from the little seer, and told her their destination.

For the first time in his life Harry enjoyed an apparition. The walls of the void pressed him into Pythea, forcing them closer together. He could feel her breath on his cheek. He was almost disappointed when they dropped onto a small road in the countryside.

Harry stepped back and glanced around. There was no mistaking the orphanage, it was the only building there. At the center of it was a stately-home type of thing. He couldn't put a date to it, old was the best he could do. That was clearly the center of the complex but at some point the owners had felt a need to expand. The two blocks to either side of the main building took after the put-some-rectangular-concrete-blocks-in-a-vaguely- building-shape style of architecture. Around the whole place there was a high wall with barbed wire looped at the top.

Harry tried not to think that made it look like a prison. All schools had that these days.

With a careful hand on his stomach Harry walked up to the main reception. Pythea stopped there and sat down quietly on a bench.

"You're not coming in?" Harry asked.

"You go on ahead." Thea looked out over the countryside. "You should probably do this yourself."

"I can still do it myself with you there."

"Go inside Harry."

Harry grinned and turned towards the door. He took a deep breath, then winced at what that did to his stomach. He tried to calm the raging butterflies inside but couldn't. The only thing that gave him the will to push open the door was marauder rules. Follow through. No fear.

As he stepped into the dull entrance hall a secretary looked up from her desk, eying him quizzically.

"Is there a records department?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Up the stairs first door on the left." The secretary looked back down at her papers.

Up the stairs. Of course. Harry labored up the steps, having to rest more than once before he reached the top. Out the window he could see the playground, full of children running about wildly. From inside the wall the place looked a lot nicer. All around the edge of the wall there were a series of children's paintings. Long running murals and swirls of color. It was almost pleasant, it looked like a normal school.

Harry managed to reach the first floor and took a few tired breaths. She wanted to let me to this by myself. Probably just didn't want to carry me up the bloody steps. Harry then realized that hunching over and breathing heavily in a building full of children could possibly be misinterpreted. He stood and walked forward towards the first door, his walking stick clattering against the floor. He knocked, politely.

"Come in."

Harry pushed the door open to see an elderly lady sitting in front of a computer, looking at him questioningly over her glasses.

"Hi, I used to live here. At the orphanage I mean." Harry stepped inside.

"Oh," The woman smiled. "Please have a seat." Harry gratefully sat, hung his stick over the back of the chair and worked out how to continue.

"I was wondering if I could get any records you have of me?"

"Do you have any identification?"

"Eh?"

"Passport? Drivers license, no you're too young for that. Your adoption certificate perhaps."

"Do I need one?" Harry's hand moved to his pocket and mercifully found that Draco's wand was still there.

"We can't give records out to just anyone dear."

"_Confundus._" Harry whispered, then. "Can you make an exception?"

"Of... of course deary." The woman shook her head like she was trying to dislodge cobwebs then turned to her computer. "What name is it?"

"I don't have my name. Long story, but it happened on January twentieth, nine years ago." Harry wondered whether he would need another Confundus to blow past the 'no name' thing, but the woman seemed to take it in her stride.

"Everything's on computers now. It's very high tech." The woman pursed her lips as she clacked away at her keyboard. "When I started here we had rooms and rooms of file boxes. Would have taken ages to find a record like yours."

When would she have started here? Harry wondered. Was it possible she might have been there back when he was?

"Here we are." The woman squinted at the record for a moment then let out a throaty chuckle. "Oh yes, I remember."

"You... you do?" Harry felt his breath quicken. "You remember me?"

"How could I forget?" She turned to him with a motherly smile. "Everyone here has a constant reminder of your stay with us."

"Wh... what?"

"See the wall over there?" She gestured out the window. "See the barbed wire? You may think it's to keep folks out, but it was originally put up to keep you in. You kept clambering over the wall."

"Really." Harry didn't dare feel. Didn't dare hope. A living connection to his stolen past like this had been too much to ask. "I must have caused you all a lot of trouble."

"Oh you were a scamp you were." The old woman smiled fondly. "I still remember what you said to me the day the wire went up."

"What?" Harry swallowed. "What did I say?"

"Well I said to you _'You know that wire's been put up just to keep you in.'_ And you turned to me, cheeky as a monkey, and told me _'That's good Miss, 'cos the wall wasn't much of a challenge anymore.'_"

Harry's heart broke and he fell into his hands. He felt tears blooming in his eyes. He hadn't known what to expect when he'd come here, but he had never expected this. He had never expected _proof_. Proof that he wasn't some Frankenstein monster, proof that he wasn't a bad copy of James Potter. He was, and had always been, _him_. Arrogant, cocky, unrespectful of authority and filled with wanderlust. He. Was. Him.

"Dear are you alright?" The old woman sounded concerned. "Do you want a tissue?"

"And you tell me..." Harry swallowed and tried again. "Can you tell me my name?"

"Oh, I'm afraid you came to us without a name." She looked back at her computer screen. "We gave you the surname Malyn, after the orphanage. Which is a traditional here. And for the first name we had to make that up. So we called you Jack."

Jack...

Jack Match.

Jack Baltzegaurd.

Jack Shakey.

Jack Caiman.

All those people, all those people he'd disguised himself as... Jack.

His constant alias. The name that had always come to his lips when he knew he couldn't say 'Harry'. It had been a memory, a memory of the first real name he had. Not given to him by his parents sure, and apparently not magically binding. But a name. He still felt more like Harry, it was still the name that came first to his lips but... it was like that hollow core inside him was filling. Filling with parts of a life he had though he had no memory of. It felt _so good_.

"I suppose you'll want to go down and see it." The old woman was handing him a printed copy in a folder. Harry assumed it was his file. She nodded towards the back of the orphanage.

"See it?"

"It was always your favorite place." The old woman smiled. "It was where we usually found you when you managed to sneak off."

Suddenly Harry knew, and with the knowledge came the unbearable need to see if it was true. Harry stood suddenly.

"Yes, I do want to see it. Thank you." Harry smiled thorough teary eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure Jack."

Harry turned and hobbled from the room, it was only his aching wound and walking stick that stopped him from running. He reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed out the door. Pythea was already standing, like she'd known he was coming.

"We need to go that... that way." Harry was breathing so hard all he could do was point vaguely.

"Lead the way."

Harry set off, taking them round to the back of the buildings. He could see it now, down the slope a little. He stumbled down and stopped just before he reached it, just before he went beneath the shade of the apple trees. The little round orchard of apple trees.

"My god." Pythea had her hand to her mouth in shock. "It's real."

"It was a memory." Harry breathed, reaching out a hand to touch a branch. "It was a memory. I kept having this dream where I was stuck in Godrics Hollow. But that place felt all weird, but if I could break out and reach the orchard I felt safe. Felt real."

"I though it was a creation of your mind, I never thought..."

"Neither did I." Harry stepped beneath the branches and walked into the center of the grove. He set his back against the tree and slid down, resting on the ground. Pythea sat down next to him, resting her shoulder against his.

"It's very peaceful here." Was all she said.

Harry didn't trust himself to speak. Couldn't speak. There were no words. They sat there for the longest time, the last summer breeze filling running past them and rustling the leaves above their heads. Eventually, after who knew how long, Harry spoke.

"Thea?"

"Hm?" She murmured. Had she almost fallen asleep. Harry looked over into her beautiful mismatched eyes.

"Why did you trust me? Right at the beginning?"

"I told you, because you are good and-"

"But right at the beginning you couldn't have known all that." Harry pointed out. "Back then I was a stranger."

"You were never a stranger." Thea smiled sadly. "Do you know how they choose the next oracle Harry? They go around to all the magical households in Greece, looking for children with the inner eye. If they find one with enough power, with power enough to be Pythea, they take them back to the temple."

"Take them from their parents?" Harry asked, shocked.

"The parents have a choice of course, but who would dare say no." Pythea huddled up against Harry's side. "I was three, but I remember it well, another curse my gift gives me. My name wasn't Pythea then, but I was told that I could never use my old name, never speak it ever again. One day in art class I signed one of my paintings with the old name, just a little mistake. The fury they had at me that day... they burnt my picture, in front of my eyes. I never used the old name again. After I finished my training I was allowed to go back and visit my parents. I went back to my old house. They were very... polite. They acted exactly the way I would expect someone to act towards The Pythea. When I tried to act like their daughter, they looked at me like I had done something wrong. Even to them I was supposed to be The Pythea... even to them."

"Thea I never knew." Harry put an arm around her (What the hell do I do? She's not crying, do I offer her a tissue anyway? Oh god what do I say?) "It must have been heart-wrenching. I can't imagine-"

"You can imagine. Not that you have to." Pythea smiled up at him. "That's why we were never strangers. Because we're the same, both orphaned. Both with our true identities taken from us. Both shoved into rolls and names we never wanted."

"Both forced to accept them." Harry nodded. "Yeah, we were never strangers. We're the same, we're like... rootless. We have no roots. No past."

"Did you find out your name?" Pythea asked suddenly.

"I found out a name." Harry shrugged. "But I think I'll keep going with Harry, I've carried it longer than the other now anyway."

"They took away who we are." She murmured.

"They took away our names." Harry corrected, brushing his hand against Pythea's face. "They can't take away who we are. The names don't matter so much, you can call me Harry or Jack or Bob it doesn't matter. I know who I am."

"I wish I had your certainty."

"You do have it." Harry smiled. "Because I know who you are. It's got nothing to do with your name. You're just you. Any you're perfect."

"Harry..." Pythea lifted up, little glistening tears in the corners of her eyes, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you."

Harry didn't really know what to do, other than to blush. A moment later Pythea seemed to realize something.

"Harry, did you just beat me at being profound?"

"Had to happen eventually." Harry grinned cheekily.

"I'll get you next time."

"You're on."

Pythea smiled, lighting up her face. Harry bit his lip and asked.

"So, you're going to be staying in Britain then? For now?"

"I think so. Are you?"

"Yeah, probably." Harry rested his hands behind his head. "Go back to Hogwarts maybe. I don't know if I missed the O.W.L.S."

"They begin next week if I remember correctly."

"A week, think that's enough time?" Harry scratched his head.

"Since it's all the revision _you_ would do anyway, I'd say, yes. And after that?"

"Dunno... Stay in the country probably. I could do with a nice peaceful holiday."

"Harry you wouldn't know what to do with a peaceful holiday."

"I'd know exactly what to do." Harry winked. "As soon as I got there it would get a lot less peaceful, but a lot more fun."

Crystal laughter filled the grove, and lit up the leaves with light.

Bellatrix Lestrange bowed over her master's bed and cried, heedless of her tears staining the sheets. She had done all she could, used every facet of her art, but her lord still barely breathed. His skin was dead white and only the dark magic she had woven in his chest kept him alive. He was so weak, not even conscious. It was terrible to see him like this, terrible to see him brought so low. Better if he had truly died, then he could have risen up again in glory. Instead he was trapped in this prison of flesh. Better dead than to lie on this narrow cot in a tiny room, not even fit for a hiding place. But she had to do what she could. She was the last, the last loyal death eater.

"I am all he has." Bellatrix whimpered.

"That is not the case."

Bella whirled, her wand snaking out. When she saw who it was she barely relaxed.

"_You!_" She spat with venom. "Barty Crouch, you dare slink back after abandoning our lord!"

"I did not abandon him." The unruffled boy stepped from the shadows, carrying a package under his arm. "I was doing our lords good work."

"For a full year?"

"It did take longer than anticipated... but it has been done. And in the nick of time too." The pale wizard strode over to the dark lord's sickbed and knelt beside it. "I am your servant, master, and I have done your bidding. Do not worry lord, I can make you strong again. Stronger than ever. With this... we can rise again, the death eaters can rise again. The earth will tremble master, tremble in fear."

Barty Crouch reached into his package and pulled something out. Bellatrix felt her jaw drop.

"We can be stronger than ever master." Barty's face in the shadows was terrifying. "Stronger than ever."

* * *

Ye gods that was hard to write right. Or... right write. Write write... some combination of those words anyway. It's been a roller coaster I think you'll agree, and the single most massive twist of the entire fic was finally revealed. Hope you liked it. People who were waiting to the end of this book to review... your time has come.

I've already started writing the next book and It ain't going well. I didn't do my usual thing of writing myself into a corner. Instead I plotted the book out in advance and wrote to it. Unfortunately I got a few chapters in and realized that it sucked. The plot made logical sense and all, no plot-holes, there was nothing tripping me up, no writers block, I just realized that the plot I had mapped out was a bit [_word I can't add without mature rating_] really. I had to go back and rework the thing. Positive upshot: The story is a lot stronger now I think. Negative upshot: I have to throw away a significant part of what I've already written. Ah well, such is life.

Anyway *_clears throat_* the next story is on it's way. Our Harry has finally found out who he really is and begins walking his own path. Too bad that path is as deadly as the last. A new enemy rises, an old one lingers and a mysterious assassin is out for Harry's blood. With Harry still injured from his confrontation in the department of mysteries he can't face these challenges head on. He may even have to start using his brain...


	46. Stone and the Scorpion: 1

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 1: Midday Sun

It was a nice garden, the garden at Malfoy Manor. At one time the bushes were elegantly crafted topiary, a menagerie of fantastic creatures in fanciful poses, but they had been untended for a year and now they looked just like bushes. Just here or there you could see a shadow of a dragon, the wing of a swan. It was like looking at clouds. The grass had grown up too, long blades that got between your toes. It was half wild but then that was good. It was a wonderfully peaceful place.

So why oh why had they nailed two bloody great quidditch goals into it. Harry snorted, they were ruining the view with their stupid game.

"Come on Harry!" Ginny swooped down laughing. "There's a spare broom!"

"Right, the broom's the problem." Harry laughed back, waving his cane. "Not the fact that I'm disastrous in the air at the best of times and am currently down a limb."

"So you're just gonna stay down there on the grass like an old man?"

"Just keep it quiet you hooligans." Harry laughed as Ginny rose into the sky again. It would have been fun to go up and make a fool of himself, make them laugh when he fell off. But if he ever wanted to get rid of the walking stick he would have to let himself actually heal. If he burst his guts open nobody would laugh. Well... maybe the twins would.

Harry turned and stomped off across the grass, back towards the house. The sun was beating down like a hammer and Harry was sweating by the time he reached the wide veranda. He took a moment before climbing the stairs. Everybody knew he was recovering from his injuries but he didn't like to let them know how hard some things were for him. Better to just take a minute.

Harry stomped up the wooden stairs and dropped into a folding deckchair. The whole veranda was new wood, tacked onto the back of the ancient mansion. The marauders had conjured and constructed the thing the first day they got there, at Draco's urging. The young Slytherin took an almost pathological pleasure in slamming beams into the ancient Malfoy mansion. It was all they could do to stop him using fifteenth century daggers as nails.

The whole place had been transformed into a kind of marauder summer camp. All of them were there, at first they had just come during the day to hang out, then in dribs and drabs they had attached themselves to rooms and began staying overnight. Harry was loving it, he had a captive audience. And now that the marauders numbered twenty they were a good audience. Except when they did pointless things like play quidditch or do homework. But at other times they were brilliant.

"So," Harry turned to the deck chair beside him, containing his newest initiate. "Who's winning?"

"I can't tell." Pythea took a dainty sip from a glass of lemonade. "They seem to have released four different snitches so I don't know how to score."

"Four snitches?" Harry's eyebrows arched.

"Ginerva and Draco were left in charge of setting up."

"Probably just trying to outdo the twins." Harry shrugged. "How many bludgers were there?"

"Twelve I believe."

"Seemed like more." Harry glanced up at the game flowing above the vast grounds. Sixteen marauders were swooping and diving in the hot, dead, air. Like swallows. Harry envied them, not for the ability to fly, but for the relief from the heat that flying would bring. Harry brushed his sweat filled hair out of his face and fanned himself with his hand. He turned to the girl next to him. "How are you not sweating? It's like a warm day in Hades."

"I'm used to Greece Harry."

"You're used to a floaty castle in the sky." Harry leant back to soak in the rays. "I however need some shade." Harry drew his wand and floated a standing umbrella over. It shook a little as it settled into place. Harry frowned, his new wand wasn't his favourite. For one thing it wasn't an Ollivander wand.

His first wand had been taken from him by Voldemort at the end of his fourth year, it had never been recovered. His second lay broken in Godrics Hollow. Both had worked for him wonderfully and he had wanted something as good. The first day he had got out of hospital he had stomped down to the old wand-makers shop to buy a new wand. Unfortunately the old man had had other ideas.

"Out! Out! Wand-killer! Get out of my shop!"

"But I just want-"

"I heard what you did to Dumbledore's wand! Travesty to destroy such... such... Get out! get out! get out!"

Harry had been bundled from the shop by the scrawny old bastard. As he fell backwards out the door, his cane clattering on the cobbles, he had yelled.

"I did _also_ defeat Voldemort you know!" But the door had been slammed shut in his face and he had gone back to the mansion empty handed. Given that he didn't want to go to long without a wand he had scrounged through the things taken from the captured death eaters. Eventually he had found one that worked. He never found out who it belonged to, didn't really matter to him. It was made of reassuringly tough oak and had a nice round handle. It was just sometimes a little... finicky. Finicky was the right word. He just had to get used to it.

"You could try another wand-maker."

"Are you sure you can't read minds anymore?" Harry smiled over at Pythea.

"You were staring at it."

"I was not." Harry holstered his wand again in his pocket. Out over the garden a cheer went up as one team or another scored-slash-fouled in a way that was apparently impressive. Harry chuckled, the children were playing. "Are you planning to get a wand ever?"

"I don't use one." Thea hovered her lemonade up above her hand by way or proof. "I had a different kind of teaching."

"Could you teach me?"

"Do you have a few spare years?"

"Ouch." Harry threw his hand to his chest in mock wounding. "I'm not that dumb."

"We'll see when the O.W.L. results come." Pythea glanced at the sky. "When do you think they will get here?"

"Oh eventually." Harry put his arms behind his head. "I'm in no hurry. No wait, scratch that. Once they come we don't have to listen to Hermione worrying anymore. They need to come now. Right now."

"They'll be here in about half an hour." Pythea said confidently. Harry didn't bother asking her how she knew, this was a seer he was talking to.

Harry stretched out in his chair and yawned. It was nice to have an actual holiday again, no worry about Voldemort, no quest to undertake. It was relaxing. Harry eased his injured leg into a more comfortable position. He needed relaxing. His leg and his stomach needed relaxing. His brain needed it too. Harry closed his eyes and sighed happily. Through his magic vision he could see Thea look over and smile fondly.

"Have you decided whether you'll go to Hogwarts yet?" Harry asked her.

"I don't know what I'd do there." Pythea tapped her finger against her glass. "I wouldn't be a student and I couldn't be a teacher."

"You could be a teaching assistant." Harry grinned. "Help Trewalny-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." Pythea shuddered. "That thought is too horrible to contemplate."

"But most of all you can be close to the order in case they need your arcane talents." Harry wheedled. "Your _impressive_ arcane talents. Your _amazing_ and _unparalleled_ arcane talents."

"Wouldn't I be closer here?" Pythea raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Here in the order headquarters?"

"But what if the marauders needed your talents." Harry pleaded. "Your _impressive_, _godlike_ talents."

"Harry..."

"And besides." Harry smiled warmly. "You never got a chance to be a kid. Take this chance, come to Hogwarts. Let the marauders show you how to have fun."

Pythea didn't say anything, but she smiled.

"That's a yes. You smiled so that's a yes."

"Harry..."

"It counts as a yes. You're stuck with it now."

"You..."

"Me."

"Stop it."

"Can't."

"And you call me a brat."

Harry chuckled and laid back in his seat. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew was a owl was pecking at his face.

"Get. The. Hell. Off. Me." Harry groaned.

Peck, peck, peck.

"Oh fine." Harry woke and cracked his neck. The owl wasn't holding a letter. "Where are my bleedin results you stupid bird?"

"Here Harry." Thea was sitting comfortably, holding a folded scrap of paper in her hands.

"The owl gave it to you?"

"I'm good with animals." Thea glanced down at the piece of paper. "Don't you want to know your results?"

"Not particularly."

"No? We could actually have a situation where I go to Hogwarts and you don't."

"Has... has that happened?" Harry felt his heart drop.

"Ah so you actually do care." Pythea glanced at him slyly.

"Brat."

"You haven't failed." Pythea smiled. "You got four. Four O. ."

"Well that..." Harry nodded faintly. "That's not bad. That's not too bad. Considering." He reached over and picked the results out of her hand. "Charms O. Ok that works for me. Defence... E."

"How could you get an E in defense." Pythea shook her head at him. "You defeated Voldemort."

"Defeating dark lords doesn't have a written portion." Harry said indignantly.

"Did you see the other results?"

"Managed A's in astronomy and creatures." Harry shrugged. "Good enough to go back to Hogwarts."

Pythea opened her mouth to say something but didn't get the chance.

"The results! The results are here!"

Harry's ears were assaulted by Hermione's screams. Thea raised her hand to her ears and winced.

"Welcome to the marauders." Harry said, over the ringing in his ears.

The next day they did the only thing traditional after receiving Hogwarts letters. The customary, almost pilgramigical, trip to Diagon Alley.

"Wait why are you going?" Harry had asked Fred and George. "You've had your last year."

"We're going to go look at something." Fred had replied evasively.

"What?"

"Just... just something." Fred shrugged.

"This is about your joke shop isn't it." Harry guessed shrewdly.

"Maybe."

"What about you?" Harry turned to Joshua Split. "Why are you coming?"

"I'm bored." Was his succinct reply.

Harry shrugged. Fair enough. The Weasley parents were there as well of course. Harry knew that on some level they disapproved of their children being soldiers in a war on eternal darkness. Harry knew this, and could barely bring himself to care. The war was effectively over for now, they weren't soldiers for now. Not for a few years at least. Harry shrugged, he would have preferred if the marauders could go alone. Being _parented_ after so long taking care of himself was galling. Ah well, with so many marauders they couldn't possibly keep tabs on all of them.

Harry shrugged and hoisted his cane. Ah well, time to do the back to school shop. How very normal.

Harry dropped into a seat in an ice-cream parlor. His left leg, and left arm were both killing him. He had never been more thankful that his bottomless bag absorbed the weight of the books he'd bought. If he'd had to carry them the traditional way he might well be dead. It wasn't even just the weight or the injury, it was the people. What had happened in the department of mysteries was known to every wizard in Britain and probably a good number outside as well. Harry didn't know which ones were worse, the ones that demanded an autograph like he was he was a bloody celebrity or the ones that shied away from him like he was a god. It was draining, physically and mentally. He needed a break.

"Are you alright Harry?" Ron asked.

"Everyone wants to stop for ice cream right?" Harry panted. "We're all stopping for ice cream. Not because I'm almost dead. Stopping for ice cream because we want to, not because I'm a bloody invalid."

"Um... yeah Harry." Padma nodded faintly. "Because we want to."

"Great!" Harry sat back. "Double scoop, coffee and chocolate please."

"Why do I have to get it?"

"I'm injured." Harry held up his cane and put on a hangdog expression. "War wounds."

"Make up your mind." Draco muttered and shook his head wryly as the marauders pushed tables together around the one Harry had claimed. Harry just sat back and grinned. The heat had beat down harshly all day but now it was evening and the air was pleasantly cool. Very peaceful. Harry wondered idly what he would do with a year of peace. Probably go mental. Possibly get arrested. Without his lofty goals to justify his lawlessness he was liable to end up expelled. He might have to rein himself in a bit. Just a bit. It was unfortunate that he had no idea how to do that.

"Coffee and chocolate." A cone was shoved into his hand by Padma.

"What? No waffle cone?"

"Don't push it limpy."

"Ouch." Harry chuckled as the marauders pulled up chairs around the table. Despite her sarcasm Padma pulled up the chair next to Harry. Thea sat down quietly on the other side. She was quiet with everyone but Harry still. For someone who had been one of the most powerful women in the world she was remarkably shy. Harry opened his mouth to ask her something when he felt a tug at his sleeve.

"Watch." Padma hissed quietly and cheekily. Harry's eyes followed her surreptitious gaze to the other side of the table. Ginny and Draco were sitting at the far other side. As he watched Ginny held her ice cream out to Draco, who bent to lick it and ended up with a spot on his nose. Ginny laughed louder than it was natural to laugh at something so cliché and wiped the spot off with a napkin. The napkin brushed down Draco's face just a moment longer than was necessary. With his magic eye Harry could even see Ginny's heartbeat quicken. Harry turned to Padma.

"And he still remains _totally_ oblivious." Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Does he have some sort of empathic blind-spot?"

"Apparently." Padma snorted cynically. "I think Ginny's getting desperate. It's almost embarrassing. My darling sister has been lending her mascara. And _creams_."

"Interesting that you say creams in the same manner that others would say... oh I don't know. _Skunk bile_."

"If he's that oblivious he's not worth it. By the way, if you want to swap some of the creams for skunk bile I'm game." Padma grinned slyly.

"That would be really mean."

"She would attract attention though."

"We don't prank fellow marauders." Harry turned to the girl on his other side. "Maybe you can tell us. See anything in their future? Something small and squalling perhaps?"

"I'm not a fortune teller Harry." Pythea said coldly. It was only the faintest twinkle in her eye that told him she was kidding.

"Not even a little fortune?" Harry arched an eyebrow.

"What do you expect me to do Harry?" The little seer smiled. "Read tea leaves?"

"Would that work?"

"Of course not."

"Wait a minute!" Ron spun round from Pythea's other side. Harry saw the seer jump in surprise but cover it a moment later. Ron hadn't noticed. "Tea leaves don't predict the future?"

"No. However could they?"

"What about clouds? Tarot cards? Casting bones?"

"I'm sorry Ronald none of those will give you any insight into the future." Pythea answered calmly.

"Then what have I been doing for the past three years?"

"Making stuff up?" Harry suggested.

"Well yeah I knew that but... what did I get an O.W.L for?"

"You got an O.W.L for putting up with Trewalny for three years." Harry reached over and clapped Ron on the shoulder. "It's well deserved."

Pythea laughed lightly into her hand causing Harry to notice something.

"Hey, you haven't got any ice cream." Harry cocked his head. "Did you want something else? I think they've got coffee and tea and stuff."

"Harry it's alright." Pythea seemed to shift closer to him. "I just don't have any money that's all. I left Greece with nothing and I've been staying at the manor ever since you know..."

"You should have said something." Harry held out his cone. "Here. You'll like it, chocolate is one of the three safe U.K. flavors, coffee ice cream however is dangerously experimental."

Pythea chuckled as she daintily licked a drop off the side of his ice cream cone. Harry turned it to let her get at all of it. He heard a snigger behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Padma covering her mouth with her hand.

"What?" The sniggering continued. "What?"

"Nothing." Padma's eyes flickered to Draco and Ginny on the other side of the table then back to him.

"Wha... what are you suggesting that... no no that's... that's totally different." Harry protested, which only prompted a gale of laughter. "It's not the same thing... I mean she didn't... whereas they... Shut up." Harry turned away from the sniggering marauder and tried to ignore her. He and Pythea finished off the cone by turns, and by the time they finished Harry was pleasantly cool.

It was a totally fun and peaceful scene. Harry should have known it wouldn't last.

"Having a pleasant day out Mr Potter?" A shadow fell across the table. "It was a beautiful day I felt."

"Hello James." Harry's eyes fixed on the old gentleman. Maybe it was his tone of voice but the marauders went still in a moment. They went from laughing happily to taught as a drawn bowstring in an instant. Hands hovered near wands. Harry waved to them. "Don't worry guys, he's not dangerous. He's not even really here. Again."

"A pity really." James turned his pale, lined face to the sky. "It looks like such a nice evening."

"Is it cold where you are?"

"I am not telling you where I am." James smiled. "But I do not blame you for fishing."

"I'm certainly curious as to who you are." Harry leant forwards. "Last time I followed your advice I was framed for murdering some death eaters."

"A regrettable event Mr Potter, but not my fault." James spoke dryly and precisely. "The information I gave you was entirely correct."

"Yes." Harry nodded towards the Baker twins, both (despite his words) looking ready to spring. "You told me that their father was targeted to be attacked so I don't think you work for Voldemort. But that doesn't mean you're on the side of good."

"Good is meaningless." James said definitely. His crisp Oxford enunciation making the words seem even colder.

"Now I know you're on the wrong side."

"Think whatever you wish Mr Potter, it doesn't particularly matter if you like me. Although obviously I would prefer if we were on amicable terms. Nevertheless you will listen to what I have to say." James waved a gloved hand at the bustling street. "You will listen or in just about ten minutes these people will all be dead."

"You'd better talk fast then." Harry's fingers were gripping the sides of his chair.

"Voldemort will attack here." Was the simple response from the elderly visage in front of him.

"Voldemort has just two death eaters and is supposed to be almost dead." Harry grated angrily. "How could he possibly mount an attack."

"Dear boy do you expect me to tell you everything?" James smiled faintly. "You would think that this would be enough. Just know that as soon as the moon rises about twenty werewolves and at least as many wizards will be attacking here. Whether you chose to believe me... is up to you." James disappeared where he stood, startling a passing family.

"Harry?" Ginny was speaking worriedly from across the table. "Do you believe him?"

"Yes." Harry's teeth grated together. "Sod the bastard but yes." Harry grabbed his cane and pushed himself to his wobbling feet. "Neville, get inside the shop and flue the aurors, and the order. Everybody else start spreading out and getting people into the fireplaces. _Do not_ panic them. GO!"

"Right." Harry turned to the worried looking Pythea. "Can you fight if it comes to it?"

"I was never trained." Her voice sounded very small.

"Ok, don't take this the wrong way but if something happens you need to stay out of the way." Harry raised his hand to her shoulder. "Stay safe." Harry stepped back and waved the marauders to the left and right down the street. He himself painfully stepped onto the table and amplified his voice.

"Listen... ag... This is Harry Potter." A cheer went up from the crowd, some people began to scrabble for things for him to sign. "No no, Listen. We've received a tip that there might be something bad happening here soon. It's _probably_ a false alarm, just some idiot who thinks he's funny, but I've talked to the aurors and they think we should evacuate anyway. Just proceed calmly into the nearest shop and flue back to your homes. No pushing, just please go home. Don't worry about your friends up and down the street, we have people warning them too."

Harry tried to keep a calm smiling face as he waved people into away, nodding with an almost banal normality. He heard clattering footsteps behind him.

"Harry!" Neville dashed up behind him.

"What did the aurors say?"

"I couldn't reach them, the flue's blocked." Neville panted. "I went through the back and tried the next shop. It's down too. I think they all are."

"What?" Harry spun to look at the shop he had been waving people into. As he turned a cry went up and seemed to ripple along the crowd. Harry could here the cries of 'it's not working, why isn't it working?'. He felt is heart drop. He spun and grabbed a man out of the crowd. The man looked down at him in shock but Harry spoke right over him. "Can you apparate?"

"Wha... what's that?"

"Try to apparate."

"Is there a problem?"

"Just try to bloody apparate!"

"I..." The man paused. "I can't. It's blocked or... or something."

Harry spun back to face Neville. The nervous marauder was gripping his wand hard. Harry amplified his voice harshly, twisting his wand until he could feel his vocal cords twanging.

"MARAUDERS! THIS IS REAL! GET EVERYBODY OUT INTO LONDON!"

Harry left Neville in charge and clattered back towards the leaky cauldron, his leg felt like it was on fire. The entry wall came into sight, closed. People were crowded up against it, clawing at the bricks like rats. Harry stopped, shocked.

"Harry!" Lucy Kingston ran up to him, the Baker twins trailing behind her. "We tried to get them out but the flues are down. When they found out the panicked. I'm... I'm sorry."

"Get out of the way." Harry ordered them, raising his wand towards the crowd. "EVERYBODY MOVE!"

The crowd turned towards his yelling voice, saw the raised wand and the look in his eyes, and parted like the red sea.

"_Confringo!_" Harry aimed the curse at the center of the wall and blasted a hole in the masonry. He shot again and the wall fell in, crumbling into rubble. Behind the wall a figure stepped forward, his face veiled by a rough cloth and the rest of him covered in deep green. That was what everybody saw. Magic eyes saw more.

"Get away from him!" Harry yelled, but he was too slow. The figure shot forward like a snake, his hand jerking into his clothing and coming out with a thick bladed dagger. In one smooth movement the man was amongst the crowd. The knife came forward and Harry saw a spray of blood. The knifeman spun and plunged the blade into the back of a woman who had turned to run then Harry was knocked to the side by pressing bodies as the crowd stampeded away.

"Let me through!" Harry yelled as he was buffeted madly. He could still see the knifeman in the cold blue of his magic sight. The man was spinning randomly through the crowd, opening veins and cutting throats like the flickering picture of liquid death. Harry tried to push his way towards him but he was thrown back. "Screw this! _Galbinus digitus! Hammus Missus!_"

The vines on the wall to his side expanded like a mad octopus, arching across the street. Harry had already cast a chain up to the green arch and jerked himself up over the crowd. Swinging madly, barely in control, Harry was drawn through the air above the heads of the writhing crowd. Harry's eye caught the knifeman and he let go, swinging his legs out, steel-toed boots coming up.

The man dodged like a wildcat and Harry twisted in the air to avoid getting a knife in his neck. He landed painfully, his leg bending under him, unwilling to support his weight, and he stumbled. The knife flashed towards him.

"_Stalagmite!_" Harry jabbed his wand down and the cobbles exploded upwards in a jutting spike, knocking the knife away. But the man was too fast his left hand dipped into his clothes and came back with a thin wand before Harry could even stand. Harry had to roll away as a tearing net of razor threads came shooting towards him. He tried to stand but his leg buckled and he saw the flashing knife again, too close this time.

"_Stubefy!_" The red light smashed the knifeman from behind and threw him to the floor. Harry struggled to rise as Lucy and the two Bakers pushed through the last of the crowd to get to him. Lucy grabbed his arm and he gratefully pulled himself upright. "Are you alright?"

"No!" Harry summoned his cane and glanced around. There were bodies everywhere. He hadn't been fast enough.

"We tried to-" Terry Baker began to speak but a knife bloomed from his shoulder and he was thrown back into his sisters arms. "Aaaah!"

Harry spun with his wand out. Out of the hole in the wall were climbing three more green shrouded figures. Harry's eye buzzed through them and was more behind them. Lots more.

"Get him out of here! Fall back!" Harry yelled. He twitched his wand at the floor and swung it like a sword, growing a wall of stone out of the rough cobbles. Harry saw Anna Baker crying as she dashed away with her bleeding brother at the same time as Lucy ran to stand next to him. "I meant you too!"

"I'm not leaving you."

"That's fine, I'm retreating too!" Harry hobbled backwards, his wand trained on the wall. A blurred shape catapulted over the wall, spinning in the air. Harry's wand flicked out. "Ferio!" The hex struck the man in the air and he crashed to the floor head first with a sickening crunch. Two more followed him and Harry threw more spells, beside him Lucy was madly throwing curses. Harry could see the street behind the wall filling up with enemies. There were far more than the twenty James had warned about.

"_Difindo!_" Harry raked his wand along the bottom of the wall, forcing himself to ignore the three more warriors that had leapt over the top of it. "_Depulso!_" His wall flew backwards along the street like a wrecking ball, sweeping the attackers back. Harry didn't have time to gloat as a lion made of fire leapt out of thin air and raked his arm with burning claws. He didn't bother to flame-freeze it, just blasted it out of the air and sent the flames back at the dark figures advancing up the street towards them.

"Harry, didn't that man say something about werewolves?" Lucy was panting beside him.

"Listen if you see a bloody werewolf tell me!" Harry yelled through gritted teeth as he smashed a pillar of ice out of the air. "Until then I think I'll deal with the problem in front of me!"

Harry blocked another curse but even as he did so two more whizzed past him and hit the crowd. He heard cries of pain and anguish. He couldn't stop all of them. He couldn't even stop most of them. This was going to be a bloodbath unless he could stop it.

"They're on the roofs!" Someone in the crowd yelled.

Harry's eye swiveled up and he cursed. There were at least five shadowy figures dashing along the rooftops towards them, the sheer slope not even giving them pause.

"Bloody hell who are these guys? Cover me!" Harry ducked behind Lucy as he jabbed his wand up at the shingles. "_Pinguis!_" The tiles suddenly gleamed like an oil slick and the running figures tumbled like skittles, skidding and scrabbling to find purchase before falling to the cobbles with a crunch.

Harry saw more spells coming from behind him and felt like cheering as he saw five more marauders dashing to help out of the pressing crowd. Draco skidded to a stop next to him and instantly had to raise a shield to stop a spinning blade.

"They're attacking on the other side too!" Draco yelled, his face covered with a sheen of sweat. "Ginny's keeping them back but there's nowhere for the crowd to go. We're between a hammer and an anvil!"

Harry cursed even as his eye swirled in it's socket and tried to focus to the other side of the crowd. No good, too many people. But he could see spells flaring up from the street beyond. Harry swore again and had to fire off a desperate counter to a purple curse hat hissed through the air like a snake. Harry swung his wand at the shops on either side of the street and yelled a charm. The glass in the windows shattered into knife-edge shards and swept across the street like a scythe. Harry could hear the thuds as it bit flesh. It only gained them moments, new figures appeared almost instantly, crouching behind their dead comrades for cover. Harry used the time to raise the cobbles in another wall but almost instantly it was struck with curses. Blasting away the stone and leaving holes for their enemies to fire through.

"When are the aurors getting here?" Ron asked desperately.

"How the hell should I know!" Harry yelled back angrily. "They may no even be able to get in!"

"What about knockturn alley!" Neville called out suddenly, pointing back into the crowd. "Could we get people out that way?"

"This many people? Crammed in there?" Draco ducked behind a conjured shield. "It would be a meatgrinder!."

"It may be the only chance!" Harry's eye swivelled to find the dark side street. Some people were trying to escape down it but most were shying away. Harry's eye focused further, further down the street... "Oh for the...! Werewolves! Werewolves in knockturn!"

But the cry came too late. They burst out of the darkness like a wave of sweating hair, cutting into the crowd like butter. Whether there were twenty or fifty or more was impossible to tell, they just seemed like one giant raging beast. The screams came louder and louder, as did the howls.

"No! Draco, Ron! Stop them now!" Harry jabbed his arm back towards the alley.

"Can you manage here without us?" Draco said as he began to move.

"Gonna have to!" Harry glanced back at the street, filling again with enemies. "I can't move fast enough to fight werewolves." Harry summoned a wrecked table, ducked behind his makeshift shelter and jammed his wand to the neck. "GINNY SEND TWO OF YOUR PEOPLE TO KNOCKTURN ALLEY. WEREWOLVES!"

Harry had no way to know if she had heard. He just had to hope. Ron and Draco couldn't do it on their own. Harry's eye whirled like a marble, trying to find some other way out. There was nowhere to hide and every moment they waited people were dying. His eyes found gleaming pillars of white marble. A massive building, defensible.

"INTO GRINGOTS!" Harry bellowed out across the crowd. "EVERYBODY INTO-"

Harry was thrown to the floor as his table exploded, showering him with knife sharp splinters. He felt one bounce of his magic eye and shuddered to think of what it would have done to his real one. A knife spun out of the blue and cut a slice out of his arm.

Harry stumbled backwards and almost fell, catching himself on his cane. He aimed a stunner a moving shape but it went wide. He cursed, there were too many of them. Gringots had better be defensible, or they were all truly screwed.

Ginny abandoned the failing shelter of a doorway and dashed for a pile of rubble. Spells zinged above her head, too many to count. She dove to the floor and felt her skin tear as she slid behind her the bricks. The street was full of madness. Whoever the hell these guys were they were good. Better than death eaters.

Heat. Lots of heat.

"Ginny get out of there!"

Ginny threw herself forward before the pile she was hiding behind exploded into blue flame. She dashed back to the other marauders, spinning and casting spells at the shadows flitting towards them. Too many to count. Every doorway was a potential attacker. Ginny reached the marauders and spun in time to shield and weather a blast of frozen blades. She heard the crowd behind her yell in pain. Whatever the marauders did it wasn't enough. The people were getting into Gringots but not fast enough, the crowd was too huge and the doors to the bank too small. Too many dying. Ginny steeled herself against the blood. It smelled like a slaughterhouse. She wanted to vomit.

"There's no more cover." Hermione's voice was shaking. "There's no more cover."

"We are the cover." Ginny yelled, trying to sound like Harry. "Line up in front of the crowd!"

"There aren't enough of us."

"Then line up in front of _most_ of the crowd!" Ginny yelled archly. "You chose who you want to let die!"

Ginny ducked to the floor and shielded as strongly as she could as a barrage of spells knocked her back. She didn't try to fire back. She had to use everything she had to keep the shield up. On either side it butted up against Hermione's and Cho's, right now it seemed like a paper wall. Ginny gritted her teeth they had to hold. Just a little longer.

The crowd was surging backwards, slowly seeping away. The marauders backed their wall to follow them. Ginny tried to ignore the fact that every meter the crowd pulled back revealed more bodies from under their feet.

"Ah!" Ginny's head whipped around at the familiar scream in time to see Cho fall, her clothes burning with purple flame.

"Hold the line!" Was the first thing that came to Ginny's lips as she dropped her shield and blasted water onto the fallen marauder. She dashed to Cho's side and grabbed her arm, hoisting the older girl onto her shoulder. She threw up a hasty shield that shattered instantly under the onslaught and was driven to her knees. Ginny summoned another shield and dragged her burden back, trying to ignore the fact that the arm draping over her shoulder was black with burns. Ginny's brain seethed with rage and she itched to drop her shield and fire dark curses at the enemies before her. But she couldn't. Wand shaking in her hand she kept her slow retreat, her mind recoiling at every spell that slipped through.

The black wall of rage just kept coming. The werewolves were mad with moonlight, they didn't even care when they were burnt or bled. You had to cut them down. The cobbles were slippery with blood and viscera.

"_Difindo!_" Draco flicked open a spurting gash in the neck of a snarling wolf, screeching howls of pain went up. He blocked them out. He glanced behind him, the crowd was squeezing back into the bank like a living thing, they were almost all inside. The marauders were almost back to the entrance now, one wall of defensive shields, one wall of aggressive firing death. He could see Harry breaking giant chunks of road to fling like wrecking balls.

"Draco duck!"

Draco didn't even think, he just slammed himself to the floor. Green light blasted above his head. That was not a werewolf! Draco rolled to his feet, wand out. In amongst the werewolves were loping figures, wands out and firing. Black shrouds of tattered robes around them. Killing curses one after another and another blasting out. They didn't even seem to care if they hit the marauders, the werewolves or one of their own.

"These aren't the same as the ninja guys!" Parvati screamed, ducking into a doorway to avoid the storm of curses. Draco stabbed his wand forward.

"_Incendio!_" A cloaked figure burst into flame but kept coming. Draco cursed and took aim at a cloaked head. "_Reducto!_" The head exploded but the body kept lurching forwards.

"What the hell are they!" Ron's quivering voice yelled out from behind. "They don't die!"

"Back up!" Draco desperately waved the marauders back. He stumbled backwards, nothing could give people this power, this was insanity. A hallucination or else a fever dream. Draco dashed across the square away, there was no holding back these creatures. There were still people in the street! Draco ducked behind a bloody werewolf carcass but there was little point, there were enemies all around now. The marauders were being pushed back, the green-clad assassins coming from left and right and the werewolves and impossible warriors crashing in from the front.

Draco screamed as his arm was engulfed in flame and extinguished it with his arm. He shot a curse down the street at a shadow but missed. They were losing. A dark shape loomed over him and he spun, too slow. The robed figure fell on him and he felt steely-cold hands grab both his arms. With an inhuman strength he was held to the floor. The hood came up and Draco felt his eyes go wide with fear.

The face had rotted away.

"_Fulgar Fletch!_" The corpse above him was thrown backwards as a cloud of knives sliced it to ribbons. A second cloud reduced it to flayed meat and the rotting husk fell to the ground in pieces. "Get up Draco!"

Draco scrambled to his feet and spun to see Harry standing like a bloodstained god of war. He swung his wand in a tight arc and the knives leapt into the air again, each growing a set of dragonfly wings and darting forward to slice another shambling shape to ribbons.

"We can't kill than but we can shred them!" Harry yelled, standing in plain sight like he was daring the things to try to kill them. "We just need to hold for a few more bloody seconds!"

Draco dashed back to the marauder line, spinning and sending flaying curses behind him at the pursuing creatures. In front of him he saw Ron struck in the side, with what he could not tell. Draco dashed to help him but the cobbles between them exploded into razor sharp shrapnel and he was driven back.

"Just a few more seconds!" Harry appeared out of nowhere, one arm gripping his cane like a vice, the other moving in a blur of spell casting. Ron was lifted from the floor and flew towards Gringots, Harry hadn't even been looking at him. "A few more!" His arm was caught with the edge of a curse and he was spun off his feet, pitching him onto the floor.

Draco spun, found the doorway the spell had fired from and sent a swarm of hornets. They were burnt up in mid air before they got halfway.

"Now!" Ginny's voice shouted out. "Everyone inside!"

Draco's feet skidded on the cobbles as he dashed for the steps of Gringots. He shielded as a curse winged towards him and had to roll out of the way of a killing curse. Ginny's marauders were holding the line for just a moment longer, giving the rest of them a chance to get in. Draco powered up the steps and spun when he reached the door, firing curses as fast as he could. Harry was the only one left out there, slowly backing up the steps with his wand out.

He can't climb stairs! Draco realized with horror. But just as the thought hit him Harry spun and fired a chain up past the line of fighters. Harry flew like a firework into Gringots, falling to the marble floor.

"That's it. Everyone in!"

Draco didn't need Ginny's shouted command, his feet were already skidding him backwards. The heavy doors were slammed shut on his heels. He could hear curses sparking against the wood and cracking stone.

"_Colloportus!_" Harry was back on his feet and pointing his wand at the door.

"Will that hold?" Draco asked, his breath coming heavy in his ears.

"No."

"I want those tables stuck across the windows!" Harry gestured with his cane. His eye was flickering around desperately trying to spot any other way their attackers could breach the building. "Raise walls across the floor to shoot out of. And get all these people down into the tunnels!"

"Mr Potter you cannot give orders here!" A goblin appeared from nowhere, his eyes flinty. "You had no right to involve Gringots in wizard business!"

"It was the only was to save these people."

"That is not my problem." The goblin snarled. "Leave now or we will open the door and let those people in."

"Listen shorty." Harry grabbed the goblin by the neck and lifted him off the floor. He was instantly surrounded by a group of armed goblins. Each of them was pointing what looked like a crossbow at him. They didn't look happy however as they were quickly surrounded by a larger group of armed wizards. Harry turned back to the goblin in his fist and hissed, "There are more of us than you."

"And if we open the doors there will be a lot less." The goblin twisted out of his grip and dropped to the floor.

"Wait!" The crowd was pushed aside and Pythea, her face streaked with dirt, stepped between Harry and the goblin. She turned on the goblin with her hands spread out. "You have to let them in."

"I do not have to listen to the fema-"

"These people have accounts. They have vaults." Pythea spoke quickly. "By law if they request to access their vaults you must let them."

"You-" The goblin spluttered but the crowd had already surged towards the tunnel. "No, no wait!"

"I don't think they're listening to you." Harry said to the goblin, over the roar. "And besides, if they get in here do you think they'll stop at killing the humans?"

"You... human." The goblin spat the last word before disappearing into the crush of people. A moment later the building shook like a bell. Harry spun and looked towards the door, he groaned.

"They're trying to break the door down." Pythea breathed, her voice steadier than Harry thought he could have managed.

"They're using one of the pillars for a battering ram." Harry tried desperately to think of something to bolster the door. "_Mythril! Dia-obsero! Portapavo!_" The door went silver and crusted over with crystals.

"Do you think that will keep them out?" Pythea asked doubtfully.

"No." Harry glanced around at the marauders desperately boarding up windows with anything they could find. He shook his head, the aurors had better come soon. "Is Ron alright? I saw him get hit."

"For now he's alive." Pythea shuddered. "If the ministry don't get here he will not last."

"If the ministry don't get here we're all royally screwed." Harry was looking around madly, trying to think of some other way plan. "How about the rest of us?"

"Terry Baker has a knife in him, I believe it may be poisoned but I cannot tell." Pythea shook her head. "Miss Chang has been burnt, I have done what I can for her. George Weasley was exsanguinated, I have spliced his circulatory system to his twin and they should survive for a while. Joshua Split cannot walk and I have no idea what is wrong with him. He can speak but he doesn't seem to be aware of what is going on. Oh, and I cannot wake Padma Patil. She seems comatose."

"Is anyone not maimed?" Harry growled, anger mixing with fear mixing with grief.

"Harry..."

"We're not gonna last." The building rumbled again. "We're just not."

"Harry!" The cry went up from the other side of the bank. Harry spun and dashed over to where Hermione was peering out a small gap left in the bottom of a window.

"What?" Harry skidded over. "Are they coming in?"

"I thought I saw someone in that house." Hermione pointed down the street. "Can you see?"

"Hold on..." Harry let his eye focus out through brick and plaster, then cursed. "There are three people in there. Children. They're trying to hide in the basement. They're failing."

"What?"

"Six... no seven. Three werewolves and four of the unkillable freaks are in there with them. I think they can smell them. The kids won't stay hidden for long."

"What do we do?"

"We can't do anything!" Harry punched his aching fist into the wall. "We can't get to them!"

"Maybe... maybe we can sneak out!" Neville glanced at the shaking door. "The ninja men are pretty focused on breaking in, maybe they won't bother with one or two people trying to get out."

"The werewolves will," Draco said dully. "They'll chase anything that moves."

"Yes, they will..." Harry put his hand up to his face. "And the dead men seemed to act the same. Maybe I can draw them off."

"_You_ can't." Ginny snapped at him. "You can't run!"

"You... you're right." Harry felt like punching the wall again. "You'll need to do it. Take..." Harry cast around for someone else who could run fast. "Take Vanessa." He pointed at Vanessa Gibbons.

"Me?"

"You." Harry turned back to Ginny. "Draw them back towards the Leaky Cauldron. If you meet the aurors coming the other way tell them to hurry the hell up!"

"What about those three children." Hermione pointed out the window again.

"If someone gets up to the roof through... through that window they can get over there without drawing attention." Harry gripped his cane angrily. Something else he couldn't do. "Draco I need you to go alone. We can't spare more people."

"They're children!" Hermione protested.

"So are we!" Harry shouted back. "And so are half the people huddling in the tunnels right now! Why do you think they picked the day after the Hogwarts letters to attack! We need to save as many people as we can." He stumbled as the building was rocked with another blast. The stone around the door was beginning to buckle. Harry swiped his wand along the floor to clear a space. He pointed down at the marble.

"_Koupa!_" The stone bent into a heavy bowl. "Ginny, Vanessa. Get in."

He waited while the two girls huddled into the makeshift shelter then hovered it off the floor.

"You ready?"

"Yes." Ginny said confidently. Vanessa just stared out fearfully.

Harry raised them to the level of the window, then drew them back. With a flick of his wand the two marauders were thrown out into the street in their stone cradle. Spells chipped and blazed against the marble but Harry held it as a shield for the two girls, anchoring it to the ground. The rest was up to them.

"Get that window boarded up again!" Harry turned back to Draco. "Go now. You need a lift?"

"No, I got it." Draco turned, cradling his arm. Harry hadn't noticed it was injured. Nothing to be done though, they were all injured. Harry watched as Draco climbed up to the window and broke the boarding just enough to crawl out. Harry turned back to the marauders.

"What are you looking at? We still need to protect this place!" They scattered and Harry began raising line after line of walls as defence. He drew lines of spiked wire in front of the door and disillusioned it. Hopefully they wouldn't notice it.

"Harry maybe you should go into the tunnels." Pythea said quietly behind him. "You're injured too."

"Thea I just sent some of my best friends out to die because I can't do it." Harry's own voice sounded bitter in his ears. "But I'm sure as hell staying here to stop them getting through. That's all I can do, but I'll do it if it kills me."

"They're not following us!" Vanessa was peeking out from behind their stone shelter, jerking her head back as a shower of spells bit chunks out of the floor.

"Damnit." Ginny's blood was pumping heavily in her ears. Nothing they did could make the werewolves chase them. Nothing. They were just milling around in front of the bank and howling while the ninja men tried to break in.

"Maybe this will work." Ginny raised her wand up to her arm, where she was covered in blood and soaked the tip of her wand in the oozing liquid. "Oderifer." Red mist floated out from her wand, pooling about them. "Tempesto!" The blood mist drifted out towards the werewolves. There was a long moment when the wining and barking stopped... then a bone-chilling howl.

"Go! Go! Go!" Ginny dashed out from behind the stone and almost tripped as she saw the werewolves bearing down on her. Her feet scrabbled on the cobbles but was moving, blitzing it down diagon alley.

"The dead ones are coming too!" Vanessa screamed as she darted ahead. Ginny threw a look over her shoulder and saw the truth of it. The dead men were sprinting madly in amongst the wolves, their hooded faces up and sniffing the air. Drinking it in like it was honey. Ginny thought she could see glowing red eyes beneath the black hoods. For a mercy the ninja-men seemed to have more self control. They were not following, but instead pounding again on the door of the goblin's bank.

Ginny put all the muscle she could into her aching legs and pounded away from the beasts, barely keeping up with the little sylph of a girl disappearing ahead of her. Vanessa looked over her shoulder,

"Ginny duck!"

Ginny didn't even think, she just let her legs fold under her, falling like a stone. The a wolf flashed over her prone body and crashed to the floor. Vanessa stunned it before it had a chance to rise. Ginny scrambled to her feet but she couldn't move fast enough. An arm closed around her leg. She kicked madly but the arm had the strength of the dead.

"Summon me!" Ginny screamed.

"_Accio Ginny!_"

Ginny was pulled across the painful cobbles but the pressure on her leg was still there. She looked down and started in horror as she saw a bloody and rotting arm dangling from her ankle. She kicked it off and jumped to her feet, ignoring her injuries.

Well they had wanted the monsters to follow them. At least it had worked. Even if they didn't make it.

Draco slid out of the window and pulled himself over the peak of the roof to hide on the other side. He tried to pick good footing as he hurried along the tiles. One chimney... two chimneys... he was looking for the seventh house. For a moment Draco wished he had Harry's eye but pushed the thought away. That way of thinking lead to unfortunate paths.

Seven chimneys. Draco put his ear to the tiles and heard nothing. Damnit.

Back in front of the bank he heard a horrific howling go up. Ginny must have got the wolves attention. Good, at least one of them was doing their job right.

Draco tried to think of a way to break through the tiles without causing too much noise. Silencing charm. Draco cast it and blasted the silent tiles away with a reducto. The space below was black. He leant down, lighting his wand. The light seemed swallowed by the inky darkness.

Suddenly the tiles by his legs erupted and he felt his legs dragged back. He fell like a stone through the tiles and landed on his back with a lightning stab of pain. He kicked as hard as he could and stabbed his wand at the dark shape clutching his leg.

"_Confringo!_" The figure's chest exploded, raining Draco with skeletal shrapnel. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest. Through the pain his eye caught movement by the stairs. He rolled just before green light obliterated the floor where he had fallen.

"_Confringo!_" The explosive curse seemed the best weapon against these dead things. Draco pulled himself to his feet and stumbled to the stairwell. He heard a scrabbling and stunned a werewolf as it put it's matted head around the bend.

Draco was breathing hard. He put his hand to his chest and felt a long sliver of bone stabbed into him. Perfect. With his wand held out shakily, Draco slowly made his way down the stairs.

They were almost to the Cauldron, Ginny could see it appear around the bend. Vanessa was dashing beside her, her eyes wide with fear. Ginny vaulted over the pile of rubble from the wall and spun with her wand out. They were so close!

"_Reparo!_" The bricks flew together madly, Ginny willed them to come together faster than the beasts were moving. Vanessa spun beside her and began firing through the rapidly closing gap. Two werewolves leapt through and were sliced to the side. Ginny held her wand tight and tried to force the spell to work faster. A cloaked figure slammed through the bricks and pounced on Vanessa, throwing her to the floor. Vanessa screamed with horror.

The wall wasn't fixed yet!

Keeping her wand trained on the bricks Ginny darted over and slammed her foot into the back of the robed figures head. It didn't even seem to feel it. She kicked again, crashing her foot into the beast's shrouded face. There was a hideous crunch and the head snapped back, hanging by strips of skin. The last brick slammed into place and Ginny whirled.

"_Depulso!_" The thing was thrown off Vanessa. "Difindo!" She slashed her wand like a blade and fetted blood spurted out, filling the air with a rotten smell. She slashed again, taking off first one arm then the other, then finally the legs, collapsing the dead thing into a twitching heap on the floor. Ginny stumbled to the gutter and vomited.

"Vanessa..." Ginny spoke between nauseous gulps. "Are you alright?"

Vanessa didn't speak, she was staring at the pile of blood-soaked robes and body parts, her dark eyes wide.

"Why didn't you fight him?" Ginny straightened up. "Did you forget everything I taught you?"

"It..." Vanessa sounded like she was speaking from deep in her own grave. "It was my father."

Ginny felt her blood freeze. She walked over to the torso and gingerly lifted the hood off with her wand. She stumbled back and was almost sick again. There was nothing there but a mass of blood and broken bone. Her kick had stove in the rotted bone and left the face looking like rancid mince.

"It..." Ginny wet her lips. "It might have been your father once, but it was just... undead. He wasn't alive anymore."

"He knew who I was." Vanessa was hugging her arms to her chest. "He looked at me and he was smiling. He said my name."

Ginny reached out a hand to comfort her classmate but realized she had nothing to say. She turned to the wall and pointed her wand at the small pipe at the base.

"_Oderifer._" There was plenty of blood already on her wand and the red mist floated out and down the pipe. There was an instant set of muffled howls from the other side. That should keep the werewolves and dead men off Harry's back for a while.

And give Draco a chance to live. Maybe.

What was that! Ginny whirled, wand out, towards the Leaky Cauldron. She was sure she heard something from inside. Aurors? Not even the most optimistic of wishful thinking could persuade her of that.

"Vanessa, stay here. Keep the spell going." Ginny motioned to the other marauder without looking and slowly stepped towards the doorway. The door was off it's hinges but she could see nothing from inside, just broken tabletops and a bar full of smashed glass. She stepped to the edge of the door and peered around tentatively. There were bodies. But she had seen too many of them today to be horrified. Wait... two of the bodies were green robed like the attackers, slumped over a table. Ginny slowly stepped into the darkened pub and checked around. There didn't seem to be anyone left alive. She stepped up to the two corpses and slowly drew their hoods back. Dull glassy eyes stared back at her out of faces twisted in pain. They had both been stabbed brutally and repeatedly, the second still had the knife embedded deep in his neck.

These two had probably been left as a guard, but who had killed them? Did the killer just leave?

Ginny's blood froze as she remembered why she had come in here originally. She had heard a noise. Thinking back, it could have been someone dissapperating. But that meant that this place was outside the wards! Ginny dashed towards the fireplace and grabbed a generous handful of powder. The green flames that sprung up were the most glorious thing she had ever seen.

"Ministry of Magic! Auror's office!"

"_Confringo!_" Draco didn't even see if it hit before he whirled and shielded desperately as a werewolf pounced on him. It's cursed claws skittered across the surface of the shield and it was thrown backwards. Draco dropped it and stunned the beast.

Where were the rest? Where were the children? These thoughts came to Draco through a haze of pain. The children were in the basement... he needed to go down. Draco staggered to a set of spiral stone steps and started down them, leaning his blooded body against the wall.

As he neared the bottom a door came into view. Before the door were two of the dead things, slamming their rotting bodies against the wood. As Draco approached they turned to face him. One set of glowing red eyes and one of empty rotted sockets.

"_Confringo!_" Draco ducked back into the stairwell as the first creature exploded and retreated further as a barrage of killing curses came flying down the stone hallway. Draco waited for a gap to spin out from around the corner. "_Confringo!_" The second beast disintegrated into shrapnel. Draco felt his bad arm explode with pain but didn't look down. He stumbled to the wooden door and slammed his fist against it.

"I'm human." His voice sounded thick and painful. "Let me through."

The lock clicked and the door swung in. Draco's legs gave out and he fell in. He kicked the door closed and glanced into the dark basement. Three shining sets of eyes looked back at him from tiny frames. None of them could have been older than four. They were in pyjamas, already ready to be tucked in when all hell broke loose.

"Are you here to rescue us?" One of them whispered.

"Just stay quiet." Draco dragged himself to his feet and trained his wand on the door. "Stay very quiet."

Above him there was the sound of a muffled explosion. The doors of Gringots had finally fallen.

Harry was thrown backwards and rolled to his feet. A black shape landed in front of him, long knife raised. Harry slammed his cane straight up into his attacker's crotch and kicked the man's legs out from under him. Harry raised his wand to finish the job but another figure darted at him, wand out, out of the dust. Too quick! Harry stumbled backwards as he fenced with flashing lights against his attacker. The man was too bloody quick! The bastard jabbed in with his left hand and Harry felt a gash open along his ribs. Do not let them get close!

"_Excalabus!_" Harry slashed out and saw shock in his attackers eyes as the shining sword clove him in two. But his first attacker was back up and raging for blood.

Harry didn't look for help. There was no help. The ninja screeched something and Harry couldn't dodge in time. Writhing pain in his chest drove him to his knees. Harry turned the fall into a roll and came up with his wand out.

"_Ferio!_" The spell was blocked but it had given Harry time to stagger backwards. They were coming faster now. Spilling through the broken doorway too fast to count. Harry was driven back by a barrage of spells and ducked behind a barricade, only to have it explode in a mass of marble gravel.

"_Atrax!_" Harry swept his wand across the rubble, every shard grew spindly legs and fangs and darted towards the enemies. Harry had never used the charm before and hoped to god the spider-rocks were poisonous. He leapt behind a pillar before spinning and jabbing his wand back at the entrance. He fired off a spell and thirty came flying back. The pain in his chest was back. Harry looked down to see his shirt drenched in blood. His or other peoples? Both. Harry could see through the cloth to where his skin had been flayed off in huge chunks by his attacker's curse. Nothing he'd seen before. Who the hell were these guys?

The sound of other marauders desperately fighting raged in his ears. They couldn't do much, there was too much dust, to much chaos, for them to see who they were firing at.

Wait...

"_Tempesto!_" Harry slammed his favorite charm to life and whipped a gale to life, the rubble and dust was thrown away and the creeping bastards were shown to the world.

"_Stubefy!_"

"_Confringo!_"

Spells sparked out from the still standing marauders like a wall off spears. Harry's eye darted madly around the hall, trying to keep up. No, who was that on the floor? Neville... not dead. Harry could see his heart beating.

"_Stubefy!_" Harry stunned a charging ninja and levitated him up block. Harry darted out from behind his pillar. Three daggers instantly slammed into his human shield. Bugger. Harry dropped the dead weight and dropped to the floor, skidding across the wet marble. He grabbed Neville's leg and yanked him out of the firing line, throwing a chain to drag them both back to the barricades. Harry dropped him there and darted back to his place by the pillar.

Harry heard a scream and saw a gush of blood. Who was it? No time! Harry swung out from his hiding place and sent a storm of lighting into the mass of attackers. His pillar was struck with a curse. There was a rushing sound and it began to glow from rapidly spreading cracks...

Harry shielded in panic but it barely dulled the force when the pillar exploded from within, throwing him across the room and slamming him into the wall. His arm shattered and pain overwhelmed him.

Occlumency! Come on!

Harry blanked his thoughts for all he was worth and, with agonizing slowness, gained control of his mind again. His arm was broken, shattered like a rod of glass, and hung limply at his side. The wound in his stomach had broken open and was gushing blood. Could he raise his wand? Could he even raise his wand?

"Harry!" Harry could see a bloodstained Hermione hunched over him, shielding him desperately. She grabbed his arm and dragged him back behind the last standing barricade. "Can you stand?"

Have to. Harry tried to rise but fell back. There were only two marauders left fighting and Harry wasn't arrogant enough to count himself in that number.

Not enough. Not enough left.

They were finished.

Harry grimly gripped the top of the barricade and raised his wand. There were only three pillars left standing. If they went... It he destroyed them... They could at least save the people below. And maybe someone would dig their corpses out of the rubble.

"_Reducto!_" Harry saw a long crack open through the marble. "_Reducto!_" The crack widened. "_Redu-_"

"Wait!" Hermione grabbed his wand. "They're... they're gone..."

"Wh..." Harry's eye flickered around, nothing was moving. Nothing but the marauders and the groaning wounded. "Wh... where did they go?" Harry's mind tried madly to process that. It seemed like they had been fighting for his entire life. His eye cycled out. Out beyond the walls. Black robes. But the good kind. He could pick out Ginny and Vanessa's small frames out in the middle.

"The aurors are here." Harry struggled to his feet. Leaning against the wall he could almost do it. "They came. About bloody time..."

Blackness drained back into his mind and he fell back into familiar unconsciousness.

Draco pushed the cellar door open gingerly.

"Is it safe?" One of the children whispered.

"Shut up." Draco muttered.

"Are they gone?"

"Shut up." Draco slowly made his way forward, wand out in one hand, the other pressed against the wall for support. The bodies were gone. Was that good or bad? Everything was bad.

"Is it safe?"

"I told you to shut-" Draco bit off his angry admonition. They were too young and their parents were probably dead. Give them something. "I think it's safe. Let's go. Stay behind me. And stay quiet." Draco dragged his feet up the spiral stairs and stopped at the top. He could hear voices from outside. Someone was yelling orders. Aurors. Finally the bloody ministry.

"The ministry's here. No STAY BEHIND ME!" Draco added sharply, grabbing the children back. He stepped forward, carefully looking in every corner. There could still be someone there. No... it was empty. Satisfied he waved the children forward and followed their eager feet to the door.

The cold moonlight hitting his face felt heavenly after the stifling fear of the cellar.

"Here!" He waved to the aurors. "Survivors! What's the situa-"

"Look out!"

Draco spun, too slowly! The window above him exploded outwards and all he saw was a flash of fur and teeth before he was driven backwards. On top of him the mountain of snarling death roared, pressing down on his chest. He writhed to try to get out but it pressed down on his frame, sending every old injury raging into new inferno.

"Get off! _Depulso!_" Draco cried desperately. The beast was catapulted into the air, shadowed against the stars. Draco rolled out desperately and the werewolf crashed back down, it's bones splintering with the impact. Draco stunned it to be sure and got slowly to his feet.

"You could have helped." Draco grated at the aurors approaching. "Useless."

The black robed wizards stopped a few meters away, their hands on their wands.

"Do you know who's these children belong to?" Draco waved at the three huddling three. "Do you know..."

The children took a stuttering step away from him. The oldest spread his arms as if to protect the other two.

"What?"

The aurors surrounded him, their wands shaking.

"Do you know... who their parents... or..." Why did his head feel like this?

The children were dragged away from him.

"Why are you doing this..."

Ginny was in the crowd, her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror.

"What's going... on... why are you... scared." His mind burned with crimson fog. "I saved them, they're fine... They're... fine... no..."

Draco's eyes dropped to his arm, to the bleeding wound. The bite mark. Red and blazing like writhing cursed fire. A werewolf bite. The pain of all the other wounds faded away, everything else was gone.

"Damnit." Draco whispered falling to his knees. "Damnit."


	47. Stone and the Scorpion: 2

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 2: Lie Gou

Harry came to on a stretcher. How long had he been out? The sky above was pitch black. They hadn't even moved him from Diagon alley, Instead he was lying in a line of the bloody and mauled, a line of white-sheeted and red-stained victims in a triage tent. His eye told him it had been set up barely a stones throw from the decrepit bank. All around him healers bustled between screaming patients, their wands flickering a desperate dance to keep hearts beating.

Harry looked down at his own body. He hadn't been properly healed, more like... stabilized. Obviously some healer had had time to stop him imminently dying before moving on to more serious cases. Harry looked around for his cane but didn't see it, ah well, least he still had his wand. Harry picked a long splinter off the floor and enlarged it into a staff. Levering himself up on that he got to his feet.

"Lie back down." A nurse bustled over to him. "You could still have internal bleeding."

"I don't." Harry's eye rolled back in his head. "Trust me." Harry limped out of the tent into the open air. Aurors were hurrying around purposely and Harry thought he saw members of the order as well. There were bodies laid in rows with sheets pulled over them, a lot of bodies.

Harry cursed, he needed to find someone he recognised, someone who could tell him what was going on. A friendly order member, a familiar auror. A Marauder? Harry tried to find one... no good. Hopefully that meant they were safe. He couldn't see any of them among the dead. Unless they were one of the ones too burnt to recognize. Harry felt a lump rise in his throat and squashed it down.

"Mr Potter. Good to see you've recovered." Harry turned slowly, and looked up into the harried face of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked bluntly. "Aren't you acting, temporary, interim minister for magic?"

"If I wasn't here I would be back at the ministry giving orders to empty chairs." Shacklebolt looked tired. Harry had never seen the man tired. "Everyone is out here, doing what they can."

"Because you told them to."

"Well yes."

"And what can they do?"

"Not much." Shacklebolt had to stand aside as a body was levitated out of the tent. The healer carrying it laid it carefully at the end of the row of dead and conjured a sheet before hurrying back into the triage center. Shacklebolt shook his head. "So many dead. More than we lost in any one attack in this war or the last. And I cannot even think of what the losses would have been if you and your friends had not been here."

"Yeah, about those friends." Harry glanced worriedly at the line of dead.

"You're friends are alive Harry. Every one of them." Shacklebolts rumbling voice dropped a pitch to a sympathetic murmur. "But every one was injured. Some quite badly. I cannot say how deeply in debt the wizarding public is to you and your circle of friends."

"We're called the marauders." Harry corrected absent-mindedly. "Where are they?"

"They are all in St Mungos, except for young Draco who is back at his home."

"Why isn't _he_ at St Mungos?"

"There was nothing more they could do for him." Harry noted the ominous note in Shacklebolts voice. Unfortunate possibilities.

"Tell me everything."

Harry pushed open the wide front door of Malfoy mansion and stepped into the marble foyer. It was totally silent inside these walls but Harry's eye found movement. He made for it, his makeshift staff tapping on the stone floor. The halls and rooms that had held friends all summer now felt cold and desolate.

Under a distant doorway Harry saw light and made for it, though his eye was already telling him it wasn't who he was looking for. Harry pushed the door open carefully and slipped inside. Snape was stood before an array of cauldrons and beakers, all bubbling away and leaking fumes. Natalie Zhao was there also, leafing swiftly through a thick volume.

"I'm surprised." Harry addressed Snape. "Shacklebolt told you were trying to get a head around all this."

"I think best when I am brewing." Snape didn't look up from his work but Harry could see the thin lines of tension around his eyes. If Snape was giving away how stressed he was then... Harry stepped up to the table and glanced over the ingredients. They told him nothing, but he could guess the potion anyway.

"Wolfsbane?"

"Yes." The lines grew a micron sharper.

"So you've heard."

"Yes."

"I was trying to find him."

"He is asleep. You should allow him to remain so as he will likely get little rest tomorrow night. There is no time to give him a full coarse of Wolfsbane potion. What I am brewing now will merely dull the jagged edge of his inevitable insanity. "

"How could this happen?" Harry hung his head. "Shouldn't have let them do it."

"It is my understanding that they formed this army in your absence." Snape glanced up at him before dropping his gaze back down to his work. "I believe every member knew the risks they were taking."

"They didn't know the _risks_." Harry almost spat. "Death's just a word till you've been there."

"Then the majority of this planet is similarly ignorant."

"How could this _happen?_" Harry repeated. "Voldemort should be as weak as a newborn kitten, you told me that."

"_Clearly_ I was _mistaken_." A snap of acid entered the Professor's voice. "The dark lord seems to have capabilities none of us knew."

"Werewolves I get. I mean I don't, they all left him when I killed Greyback. But... well maybe they have a new leader, or something. The zombies too, I at least understand _what_ they are. But those other guys" Harry shook his head. "They were never death eaters. The spells they used, their whole style of fighting. I've never seen it before. Do we know who the hell they were?"

"_Lei Gou._" Those were the first words Natalie Zhao had spoken since Harry had entered the room, but she filled them with menace.

"_Lie Gou._" Harry's brow furrowed. "That's Chinese isn't it?"

"It is." Zhao nodded.

"Well who the hell are they?"

"Mercenaries." Snape hissed the word, like it was a curse.

"More than mercenaries." Natalie corrected. "The _Lie Gou_ are centuries old, they take initiates from all over eastern Asia. They are incredibly skilled. They are also feared, and rightly so. The hiring a company of them has been the tipping point in more than one war. They are ruthless, entirely so."

"How would Voldemort contact Chinese mercenaries?" Harry scratched his head.

"They have factor houses in many cities." Zhao said with irritating calm. "That is not the most pertinent question."

"So what is?" Harry asked irritably.

"How did he pay for it?"

"The _Lie Gou_ are expensive." Snape explained, his eyes peering down into a pool of simmering liquid. "There is a famous tale about two twin brothers, the heirs to a vast estate in Russia, centuries ago. When their father died they both took half the wealth and tried to claim the other half also. There was a private war between their armsmen until one brother hired the _Lie Gou_, wasting a large part of his inheritance. That side had almost won when his brother offered _the Lie Gou_ more money to switch sides and the battle raged the other way. This went on until both brothers were penniless, the estate reduced to a wasteland, and the _Lie Gou_ growing fat on the suffering."

"That is just a legend." Zhao rolled her eyes. "But it does demonstrates both the vast funds needed to hire the _Lie Gou_ and their fickleness with regards to who's side they fight on. They will also only accept real riches, nothing conjured or created by magic. Gold or jewels, and many of them. Only a rich idiot would employ them."

"Unless they had the funds to assure that they could match any offer their enemy made." Snape said irritably.

"Which we know the dark lord cannot have access to." Zhao snapped her book closed angrily.

"You have no idea what the dark lord has access to-"

"And you do because-"

"Hey!" Harry slammed his staff against the floor. Two sets of eyes flashed to him. "Have a lovers spat on your own time. _Clearly_ Voldemort does have the resources or I wouldn't have spent this pleasant summer evening being shot at, my gut wouldn't feel like it had a spear driven through it and a lot of innocent people wouldn't be _DEAD!_ Now I have the Potter family gold and we can probably count on the Malfoy riches as well. Is it possible we can just buy these people off?"

"You want to give them money?" Zhao looked aghast.

"If it'll stop them working for Voldemort. Um... Yes." Harry stuck his hand on his hip. "Would that work?"

"It is possible." Snape responded guardedly. "I am not entirely sure it is wise."

"Yes, I got the point of your instructional fable." Harry snorted. "How can we contact the _Lei Gou?_"

"I assume through their factor house." Snape added a pinch of red powder to a cauldron without looking. "Though how we find that is another matter."

"I may be able to find it..." Harry bit his lip. It was a long shot but he knew where he could find information. "Last year I had some contact with... disreputable types. Maybe one of them'll know where we can get in contact with the _Lie Gou._"

"Harry," Snape had rounded the table and was standing in front of him. "You must swear to me that you will not go to deal with the _Lie Gou_ alone."

"I won't. I'll bring backup."

"I meant without me." Snape added harshly. "You must tell me if you find their factor house."

"Tell me again how you're better than Dumbledore?" Harry stepped back from the potions master.

"Do not say things you do not mean." Snape said coldly. "We both well know the difference between myself and Albus Dumbledore."

There was a moment of silence. Inside his own head, Harry gulped. Since he had found out the truth and come to peace with it he hadn't though about his true origins much. It was very easy to just think of himself as Harry Potter. Very easy to slip back into that glove. Being reminded of it was jarring, like being hit with the truth all over again. Harry shook it off. It was better to remember, not that he would ever really forget.

"I know." Harry tried to make his voice calm. "This has been a very trying day."

"For everyone."

"Your potion's boiling over."

"It's supposed to." Snape turned and stepped back behind the table. Harry took a deep breath and tried to think of anything else to add, but his tired mind kept coming up blank. Thankfully Snape had something else to ask,

"Other witnesses said they saw the dead men fire spells?" Snape asked. His voice said the question was almost trivial, but Harry saw Zhao perk up at the words.

"They weren't dead." Harry's mouth was dry with the memory.

"Explain."

"Their hearts were beating and they were breathing air. They may have been rotten but they were at least partially alive. And yes, they were casting spells."

"You're sure Harry." Natalie leant forward. "You're sure it wasn't the _Lie Gou_. Maybe in amongst the dead men?"

"_In amongst_ means nothing to me." Harry tapped his eye. "The dead men cast spells. Well... one spell really. The killing curse over and over, but I saw one levitate a chair out of his way so they are capable of casting other spells."

"That is not possible." Zhao shook her head. "Neither zombies nor inferi can perform magic. And neither have heartbeats. It's... impossible. Magic can only be performed by living creatures, that has been proven over and over again, you must have life. What you describe is impossible."

"Clearly it isn't." The edge of irritability was back in Snape's voice. "Clearly the dark lord has many capabilities we know not of. The question is why have we not seen them before?"

"The question is how do we stop them?" Harry broke in.

"I have already sent order members to check the graves of known death eaters. They have orders to exhume and burn any bodies they find still resident." Harry nodded, he had been about to suggest that. Snape continued, "Other than that... we must find the dark lord."

"Call him Voldemort."

"No." Snape snapped.

"You're still scared of him."

"Some fear is healthy." Snape tapped a long silver spoon with his wand and set it to circle slowly in his bubbling pot. "Especially now that we know he has capabilities far greater than we ever imagined. What I cannot understand is how he has recovered so swiftly from his injuries."

"Maybe he hasn't." Harry shrugged. "He can direct troops and buy mercenaries even if he's just a floaty head, or a disembodied voice."

"He wouldn't negotiate with the _Lie Gou_ from a position of weakness." Snape shook his head. "And whatever he has done to those walking corpses it is clearly powerful magic. No... I fear we must assume he has his old strength back. The parallels between the living corpses reanimated and the dark lord's remarkable recovery are to obvious to ignore."

"You think it's the same thing?"

"I think we can safely assume the two are linked."

"Brilliant." Harry threw his hands up in the air. "So we have three mysteries. How did Voldemort raise himself and his army from death? How did he get the gold to hire the _Lie Gou?_ And why did the werewolves pop back up after deserting him over a year ago?"

"Three mysteries." Natalie Zhao murmured quietly. "Or maybe they're the same mystery. We don't know."

"We don't know anything." Harry grimaced. "We don't have a bare shred of info and we could be attacked again at any turn."

"Then perhaps you should go talk to your contacts." Snape whispered a word and the fire beneath his cauldron snapped out. "But remember what you promised."

"I will." Harry pointed at the bubbling potion. "Is that finished?"

"It is, but-"

"I'll take it down to him." Harry grabbed a goblet and dipped it into the broth.

"Should you not let him sleep?"

"He's awake." Harry tapped his eye and turned to leave.

"Harry," Snape's voice stopped him before he could leave. "You know that there may be a very good reason why the dark lord has returned."

"Is there?" Harry looked back over his shoulder.

"You know the prophecy. There is only supposed to be one person capable of killing him. It is possible that, now that person is dead, the dark lord cannot die." Snape was eyeing Harry levelly. His face gave away nothing.

"I am well aware of that." Harry replied dryly. "I'll settle for dismemberment. I'm not giving up."

"Good." Snape nodded faintly. "Neither will I."

Harry turned around and carefully carried the steaming potion from the room. He padded down the corridor, the fumes twisting into spirals in the air. It was hard to keep the goblet steady while hobbling along with his staff. Damn stupid injury. Broken invalid that he was he was he was next to useless. Couldn't even carry a bloody cup. Harry gritted his teeth and tried to push those thoughts away from him. They resisted, hovering in his hindbrain, mercilessly haunting him. Harry reached Draco's room and pushed the door open. He didn't bother to knock, Draco almost certainly wouldn't have answered and he could already see what Draco was doing within.

As Harry stepped in Draco didn't look up from what he was doing. Harry placed the goblet lightly on a table and stood, unspeaking. Draco still said nothing, but simply kept running his wand along long metal poles. Welding them together and conjuring more.

Building a cage.

Harry still said nothing, but instead sat on the edge of a chest of drawers and crossed his arms. Draco would speak eventually, he had to, it wasn't in him to not give his thoughts voice.

"Don't try to stop me." Draco said over his shoulder. "I need a cage."

"I know that." Harry nodded, speaking quietly. "But we could build it in another room, no call to ruin the room you'll have to sleep in the other twenty-seven days of the month."

"I'm building it here." Draco didn't give reasons. Harry supposed he didn't need to. "I need you to make it unbreakable, can you do that?"

"I can. If you want." Harry waited until his friend nodded, before stepping forward and raising his wand. "This won't take long. You want to drink the wolfsbane potion?"

Draco didn't answer, he just stepped over the goblet and drained it. A flicker twisted his features for a moment before they settled back into a blank, impassive state. Harry flickered some charms over the iron bars of the cage. It wasn't very large, not considering that a werewolf would be in there. Draco would be fairly cramped. Harry added some cushioning charms to the thick bars.

"Draco, this isn't the end." Harry felt like he needed to say something.

"Isn't it?" Draco said bitterly. "Harry I'm cursed. Permanently damned to be a monster. I'll lose my mind each full moon, I'll be a dark creature. I'll have become the things we kill."

"The wolfsbane can help you."

"_Liar!_" Draco hissed. "There's nothing that can help me. There's no cure. There's no hope. Just go Harry. Just leave me. There is nothing you can do for me... unless... unless you were prepared to-"

"Stop. Talking." Harry bit the words out.

"I tried to do it myself."

"Stop."

"The killing curse doesn't work if you cast it on yourself."

"Stop talking now."

"_Please..._" Draco's eyes were wide and his voice shook. "Please do it or leave me to."

"Don't say this. Don't do this." Harry felt his grip on his tall staff tighten. "Just shut the hell up."

"Fine." Draco drew his wand. "Just leave then Harry. I'll do it myself." He raised his wand but Harry was faster, slamming his staff up into Draco's hand and sending the wand spinning away. Harry darted forward and grabbed Draco by the front of his robes.

"I have had enough of that from you." Harry hissed, his rose up close to the pale face of his friend. "I will take your wand away if I hear you talk such undisguised _cowardice_ as that again. You. Can. Still. Live."

"As a monster. As something I despise."

"If there is one thing I've learned from all this crap I've been through is that life is precious and death is pointless." Harry released Draco from his grip.

"You've said nothing that changes anything." Draco turned away from him, bowing his head. "My life is pointless now. Entirely so. I would rather be dead, and unless you intend to stay with me every day you cannot stop me."

"I would stay with you every day, I really would. But I've got things to do so... " Harry moved like a snake, whipping Draco's legs out from under him and sliding him across the floor. He flicked the heavy door of the cage open then slammed it closed again as Draco tumbled through. With a second flick Harry summoned Draco's wand into his hand, then the knife that was in a Draco's pocket and a letter opener from a drawer. His eye tried to seek out anything else that could be used to cut or kill. After a moment's thought he summoned Draco's potions kit out of his school trunk, who knew what poisons there were in there. Draco had lifted himself up to his knees and was staring at him, eyes full of hatred. Harry stepped right up to the cage.

"You are not dying today. You will not kill yourself. I will not let you." Harry locked the cage door with several charms he knew no wandless wizard could break through. "Your life is not over. Maybe nothing I can say can make you realize that right now, but you're still going to live. Whether you like it or not."

"But..."

"I have to go. People to see." Harry turned towards the door, on the way he grabbed a book and tossed it to Draco. "Here, something to read. You'll need to study for the year at Hogwarts that you will be attending."

Harry stepped out the door and pressed it shut, leaning back against the wood. Everything was going to hell, and he had no idea how to fix any of it. Not the slightest idea. Where was he even going? He had a few ideas but... nothing concrete.

He could go to St Mungos perhaps... check on the other marauders. But he wasn't sure if he could take any more misery. There was nothing he could do for them anyway. But then there was nothing he could do out here either.

"I'm beginning to think stabbing that bastard in the neck was a fantastic waste of time." Harry muttered into the empty air.

_The job isn't done yet._

Harry shuddered at the dread certainly in his mind.

_More work to do._

Harry pushed himself forwards, leaning like an old man on his splinter-staff. Still more work to do. There was just one place he could find the information he needed.

He needed to visit The Tarot.

But there was somewhere else he had to go first...

Ginny curled her legs up under her. The chairs in the St Mungo's rooms were familiar now, but it was still impossible to get comfortable in them. They even seemed... empty. Only four chairs occupied, herself, Hermione, Lucy and Vanessa. The only four still on their feet at the end of the battle. Everyone else was in a bed, most still unconscious. Things seemed grim

Ginny had tried to keep their spirits up, pointed out that the four survivors were all girls and how they were _never_ going to let the boys live it down. But there was no laughter here and Ginny had given up. She looked across the beds. Cho with her burns, Split paralyzed, Anna slammed against a wall like a doll by one of the dead men. They were lucky to be alive, Ginny told herself, lucky to be alive.

Ginny shook her head. It was hard to think of this as any sort of luck.

She turned towards the other set of beds, stepping up to stand next to them. No... hard to see it as any kind of luck. She looked down at her parents. Hard to see it as any sort of luck. She put her hand carefully on her mother's bandaged arm. The healers said it would be weeks before they were even awake. Not luck at all.

Ginny shuddered and turned back towards the marauder beds. Vanessa was awake again and clinging to the side of Elizabeth's bed like it was a life-line. The little girl was badly shaken, not surprising really. Ginny thought of her as a little girl despite the fact that they were in the same year. Poor girl had seen her evil father chopped up in front of her. At least the first time he had died she hadn't been there to watch.

Ginny shook herself. Draco's father had died in front of him and he had recovered alright, but maybe that was because it was Draco that had killed him.

Draco...

Ginny glanced towards the door. She wanted to go to him, comfort him. But her parents were here, they needed her. The marauders were here and they needed her too.

Except that there was nothing she could do here.

There was nothing she could do there either.

Ginny gritted her teeth and tried to stop herself from screaming. The one thing she hated was to feel useless.

Harry was getting odd looks from passers by. He ignored them. Not just because that was his way but because Harlesden wasn't a place you stared at people in. It wasn't a terrible place, Harry knew far worse parts of London for a clearly injured man to walk through. But it was bad enough to make him check alleys with his eye before walking past them, and enough for him to keep his wand tucked in his sleeve in easy reach.

He checked the scrap of paper in his hand and headed quickly towards a tall, brown, concrete block of flats. Harry checked the paper again and reflected on the brilliance of the invention of the elevator. A group of kids in hooded jumpers stared at him as he stomped past, trying to look threatening. Harry sniffed, barely stopping himself from laughing. Thought they were tough did they?

Harry stepped into the cold entrance hall and pressed the call button for the elevator. As it slowly descended towards Harry he spent a quiet moment reading the graffiti. It reminded him of when he was young.

Harry rode the elevator up, his nose wrinkling up at the very noticeable urine smell and stepped out on the top floor. It wasn't even a corridor, just a long concrete balcony. In winter it must have been freezing. He didn't need to check the paper again, he had it down by now. Apartment 12. Harry knocked loudly and waited. He heard footsteps on the other side and focused his eye through the wood. He was gasping in surprise long before the door opened.

"Tonks?" Harry's eyebrows raised. "Didn't expect to see you here?"

"Harry? Wh... What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Harry cocked his head to one side. "Shouldn't you be cleaning up diagon alley?"

"I was injured. Kingsley sent me home."

"But you didn't go home." Harry said pointedly. "You went _here_."

"How do you even know where _here_ is?"

"Werewolf registration act." Harry held out the piece of paper for her to see. "Any concerned citizen can find out where the monsters live." Draco hovered into Harry's mind and his stomach lurched a little. Not monsters then... not all of them. Most of them though.

"You came to see _Lupin_." Tonks put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Yes. Can you get him? Please."

"I... I don't know. He's only transformed back an hour ago. I came to bring him some breakfast and help him recover. He still hasn't got out of bed though."

Which means you had a key. Harry didn't say it. Instead he harshly said,

"Draco was bitten. Didn't you know?"

"Draco. Oh god no..."

"Yes. He was bitten." Harry stepped forwards angrily, forcing Tonks back into the apartment. He'll have to go on a bloody list and take that putrid poison they call a potion and he's in his room at the manor right now _in a freekin cage he built himself!_" Harry bit his words off before he told her what Draco had wanted him to do. Later, when he was better, Draco wouldn't want people to know.

"And you want Remus to... what? Talk to him?"

"Just get the bloody wolfman Tonks. Get him now. Oh wait..." Harry glanced over towards the faded bedroom door. "Never mind."

"It's alright Tonks." A grating moan sounded and the door was pushed open slowly. "I'm awake."

"Are you sure he was a wolf?" Harry stepped out from behind the pink haired girl. "He looks like he's hung-over."

"Harry," Tonks held her hand, her eyes narrowing angrily. Harry was forced to remind himself that the girl with the heart shaped face was an auror of the Moody school.

"Professor Lupin..." Harry addressed the grey-faced man. "Draco was-"

"I heard." Lupin said flatly. "There is nothing you can do. There is nothing I can do."

"I'm not after a cure, I'm not that stupid." Harry growled back. "I need you to talk to him. You need to show him he still has something to live for."

"Look at me Potter." Lupin glanced down at his shivering, robed body. Harry, for the first time, noticed multiple old fractures in his bones. Almost every bone in him bore some mark of his lifelong curse. Harry gritted his teeth. Maybe he should have just done what Draco asked... No! Those kind of dark thoughts led to things like gouged-out eyes.

"Look just talk to him." Harry pleaded. "I have work to do, I need to go to some dark places today and meet strange people with little sense of humour and less personal hygiene. I know you hate me. I even know why... a little. I don't _understand_ but... whatever. Long story short you despise me. But whatever you think about me don't take it out on my friends. Come on... help him."

"There is _nothing_ I can do."

"Tell him it isn't as bad as it seems."

"It is as bad as it seems."

"Then _lie_ to him." Harry snarled. His fingers gripped his staff so hard the wood splintered. Lupin stepped back, his eyes wide with shock. "Lie to him if you have to. Tell him turning into a wolf isn't so bad. Tell him it's a barrel of laughs. Tell him it's like a sneeze only better. Tell him _anything!_" Harry stepped forward, pointing his staff like a weapon. "Tell him whatever the hell you would have wanted to hear. I don't care! All I know is that while you lie here with a booty call young enough to be your daughter my friend, my friend who has saved my life on numerous occasions, is thinking his life is over and _I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY TO HIM!_ I don't know! I can't think... I can't help him! He's saved my life and I don't know how to help him!" Harry turned his side to Lupin so he could only see his fake eye. Couldn't see that he was crying.

"I do not know how to help him either." Lupin half turned back towards his bedroom. "He will have to get through this himself."

"You're a coward. You always did like to hide." Harry let the words flow from his lips like silk over ice. The effect on Lupin was electric. The werewolf spun back to face Harry, his eyes wide with shock.

"How... how..."

"Just something I remembered." Harry let the words sink in. He didn't really remember much. Dumbledore had taken his own memories of James Potter and thrown them into Harry's mind. Now that he knew that he could almost tell where they were. It was like there was a giant black tar pit over one part of his mind. Occasionally things would bubble to the surface but it was impossible to go swimming. Lupin swallowed harshly before opening his mouth and levelly saying,

"Get out of my home Potter. Get out."

"You going to talk to Draco?" Harry didn't move. "Or are you going to hide in your shack?"

"I will talk to the boy." Lupin gritted his teeth. "Because he is Tonks' cousin. Not because of you. I will-"

"_So_ not interested in your reasons." Harry snorted and turned back towards the door. Harry pulled the door shut on two angered faces and dropped backwards off the balcony. He was halfway down before he remembered he no longer had a drop-gem embedded in his chest.

"_Bardus accido!_" Harry had barely whipped his wand out in time and the spell didn't have time to catch properly. Harry crumpled and rolled as he his the floor. His leg screamed with pain. Harry grabbed his staff and pushed himself to his fee-

CRACK!

Harry was thrown back to the floor as his makeshift staff finally gave out and splintered into giant shards.

"Bugger." Harry grimaced and looked around. There were no convenient pieces of wood he could work with. No twigs or splinters. Wait... there was a tree over there by the road. Harry hopped to his feet and limped painfully in that direction. He made it to the tree and picked a knobbly twig off the floor. Another engorgement charm gave him a rude walking stick. Harry leant on it gratefully and breathed heavily. It just made everything more difficult. Harry shook his head, where he was going next he couldn't afford to show too much weakness. Harry brushed his sweat filled hair out of his eyes. It had been a long day. The parts that hadn't been excruciatingly painful had been full of aggravation... the next person who pissed him off would-

"Give me your wallet!"

Harry didn't even think. His staff flashed up and slammed the mugger in the chin. Harry could have sworn he saw teeth shatter and fly away. The moaning would-be thief crumpled to the floor before scrambling up and fleeing, white trainers flashing and scraping on the pavement.

"I don't carry a wallet." Harry turned and limped off down the street.

Ginny slowly pushed the door open. In the middle of the room was a cage of blackened metal. The lights were dimmed to the point of total darkness but Ginny could still see the pale pump in the middle of the cage, a mountain of pale hair barely fitting in between the bars. It rose and fell slowly with the sound of breathing.

The floorboards under the cage were torn and splintered, and covered in blood. The wolf must have known it couldn't get out between the bars, but it had tried anyway. Hair and slobber stained the floor with a pale carpet. The whole room smelt like the den of an animal. How could so much have happened? How could this have happened?

Ginny shivered. No one was watching now, she could break down. Everyone was hurt, diagon alley was ruined. Was it her fault? She could have trained them harder. Should have pushed them to keep training even after Voldemort's apparent death... nothing should have stopped them keeping in practice. People were dead because of that. People were dead because of her. And that made her insides knot up like rope. Was it bothering Harry? Probably not... he was probably out beating someone up for information or fighting a dragon or something. Nothing rattled him.

Ginny sat down in a heavy armchair and pulled a throw over herself. It smelled like wet dog. The whole room did. Ginny pulled the heavy cloth up and bunched it in front of her. For a moment she wondered where her childhood teddy bear was. Probably in a cupboard somewhere.

Ginny pulled her legs up onto the chair and hugged them to her chest. Fevered sleep eventually came.

Harry flicked his hood up as he turned into a disused alley. He slowed and bowed his head a little. Better to seem old and infirm than young and crippled. He tried to fade into the background, not that it would really matter. After the chaos in diagon alley most wizards were staying at home. This wasn't really a wizard street. There was a starbucks on it. But apart from that the shops were mostly magical, and not the nice kind of magic.

Harry reached his destination and looked up. A dirt encrusted sign read _Fortunes told Fortunes found_. Harry pushed the door open and was assailed by incense and smoke.

"Welcome my child." A heavy breathy voice sounded out of the gloom. Harry could see her of course, but acted like he couldn't. "Have you come for guidance from the spirits?"

"I need to visit the Tarot." Harry said the fixed words he needed to say. "Is this the place I can find it?"

"Who can say? Perhaps I can show you the way."

Harry stepped forward and a chair faded out of the smoking air. Harry sat down and waited while the smoky figure on the other side of the table slowly shuffled a deck of scuffed cards. Harry watched the fingers carefully, if you paid really close attention you could see her stack the deck. Harry tried not to yell for her to hurry up. They didn't need to go through the charade, they both knew why he was here. Except that if he demanded she go faster he would get nothing. He had to play their game.

"What is your birth month child?"

"July." Harry said without thinking. It didn't matter anyway. It was a fake month given for a fake tarot reading that wouldn't have predicted anything even if it was real. Harry watched as the 'seer' flicked cards down one after another.

"This is for the past, this is for the future." Harry tried not to roll his eyes. "This is the outcome of the viewing." The woman laid down the tower card. "Meaning catastrophe."

"Obviously." Harry stood and clicked a coin down on the table. "Thank you." Harry turned and stalked out of the shop. A set of smoke-shrouded eyes watched him go. Harry hurried to the nearest flue node and tried to remember where he was going. The tower was one he'd seen before... where was it... Oh yeah, Glasgow.

Harry picked a pinch of powder and stepped into the flames. The spinning flames whisked him away and he gritted his teeth, flueing with a gamey leg was always painful. Harry fell out onto a stone floor with a stabbing pain. But recovered fast and ambled out of the shop, waving pleasantly to the bemused wizard shopkeeper.

He stepped out into the street and looked up into the sky. It was sunny now, he wondered what time it had gotten to be. Breakfast had never happened. Lunch would probably never materialize. Harry reached into his bag and drew out something that felt like food. An apple. Good enough. Harry clicked down the muggle streets, wondering if he was throwing himself in over his head. People were looking at him funny and he realized he was wearing wizard robes. Sod it, who cared.

Harry looked up and saw the swinging sign he was looking for. A faded pub sign of a stone tower. The same one that had been on the card. This was what he was looking for.

This was the Tarot. The den of thieves, a near legendary pit of iniquity. Every auror in the country would have given their right arm to find this place. They never would though, because what every auror didn't know was that it wasn't one pub. It was twenty-two.

Every day the location changed, you only found out where from the tarot reader. The wife of the proprietor. On any other day the other twenty-one, the Fool, the Death, the Justice and the rest, would just be muggle pubs like any others. Harry didn't know where the muggles who usually went to the pubs went on the days when their local was designated the Tarot. Probably drank at home.

Harry pulled his hood up, it didn't do to enter the Tarot concealed, and stepped inside. Within it was warm and faint music played. Harry couldn't see where it was coming from, probably out of someone's wand. The chairs around the old oak tables were high backed, leather and padded. The fireplace was roaring cheerfully.

Harry liked the Tarot, it was homely. Contrary to what you might think there were no fights in the Tarot. People didn't come to the Tarot to bar-room brawl, they came for business. Serious business. Of course if you pissed off the wrong person you would be chopped up and fed into the mincing machine to be sold as hamburgers to the muggles over the next few days.

_Such is life._

Harry clomped over to the bar and slipped onto a stool. There was no bartender, Harry could see him behind the wall hulking around an empty barrel. The pub was surprisingly full, every booth was full of muttered conversation and every table surrounded by serious looking men. Men who had other men sitting next to them who never spoke. Men in very good robes, or very good suits. Harry tried not to look to closely at them. It didn't do to pay too much attention to people in the Tarot.

Harry shook his head ruefully, of course the place was full. Diagon alley had been crushed, shaken and blasted to the ground. These people would be discussing how that effected their plans... their plots. Would they have time to talk to him about his own problems? What was he thinking... of course they would. For enough gold. He just had to ask the right questions.

How would he do this? Harry ordered red wine when the bartender came back. It was served to him without question, and without comment. Harry stepped over to an empty table and rested a galleon against the bottom of his glass. The Tarot had signals, subtle ones. Harry didn't know more than the barest scraping of them. But he knew this one, gold against red wine meant you were interested in assassins. Actually it meant you wanted someone killed but it amounted to the same thing.

Harry leant his knobbled staff against his chair. Whatever happened he was going to find the bloody _Lie Gou_. It would take as long as it took.

Draco woke into a hideous pain. It seemed like every bone in his body had been shattered and reformed, every muscle was being turned to mush by some flesh rotting bacteria, and his throat felt like he had drunk crushed glass.

He opened his eyes and slowly tried to push himself to his knees. His hands were shaking. No... his whole body was shaking. He couldn't even focus his eyes. Draco let himself fall back to the floor, the pitted and splintered wood bit into his sensitive skin and he couldn't help but cry out. There was no point in getting up, he couldn't unlock the cage anyway. Was it even worth reaching between the bars to drag his clothes back onto his aching body? He didn't want to be naked when someone came to check on him but he didn't think he could physically put the clothes on. Maybe if he gave himself a moment to recover... to heal. Then he could manage it. Maybe in a few minutes... if he just concentrated on breathing.

"Draco?"

The voice registered on the higher reaches of his brain but did nothing to the lower. He knew he should respond somehow but had no idea how to.

"Are you awake?" A face came into view, framed by ginger hair. Draco coughed roughly, shock making his throat close like a vice. His legs came up, trying to hide himself from the girl in front of him. She disappeared like a ghost and Draco momentarily thought he had imagined her. But then a heavy cloth dropped on top of him from the top of the cage. He weakly pulled the woven cloth over him and tried to cover himself without scraping the cloth over his skin.

"Draco... are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?" Draco whispered.

"Do you want some water?"

"Why are you here?" Draco wrapped the cloth around himself and tried once again to push himself to his knees and shuffle closer to the bars. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Well sorry for caring if you were alright!"

"I'm a werewolf. I'm not alright. I will never be alright." Draco's eyes flickered down to Ginny's rumpled clothes. They were the same ones she had been wearing yesterday. Draco realized he could even smell Ginny's scent on the throw over him, and wafting over from his deep armchair. "Did you sleep here?"

"Yes."

"You _idiot!_ You slept in a room with a werewolf! What if I had broken free! You could have been killed!"

"You wouldn't have hurt me."

"Do you know what a werewolf is?" Draco shook his head, all this shouting was making his already aching head split apart. "Of course I would have hurt you!"

"Alright fine." Ginny crossed her arms. "But I could have stunned you or-"

"While you slept?"

"I..."

"Why were you here anyway?" Draco hugged his arms to him, trying not to throw up.

"I just..." Ginny's eyes dipped. "I came here to see if you were alright, but you were already transformed. I was so tired, I just went to sleep."

"You just... went to sleep?" Draco's eyes widened, then closed again when the light hurt his brain. "Why didn't you go to your own room?"

"I just... I just went to sleep." Ginny knelt down, she looked almost as tired as he felt. "Seriously Draco are you alright?"

"No. But it's not any worse than I expected." Draco leant against the bars. Having someone there might  
actually be a good thing, it forced him to get up and act with some semblance of normality. If Ginny hadn't been there he probably would have still been lying on the floor. "Lupin came and told me what to expect. He didn't leave anything out. At the time I hoped he might be exaggerating..."

"Draco..."

"I can't believe this cage is the rest of my life..." Draco bowed his head, resting his head against the bars. He closed his eyes, letting himself slide down. It wasn't just that he would have to go through this every twenty-eight days. That he could almost have dealt with. But the fact that he was a... a _thing_... he couldn't allow himself to be a marauder now. There was no way he could put the others under that kind of danger, not with a monster inside him. He couldn't go back to Hogwarts either, that was out of the question. All those children... he would be putting them all in danger.

So what was his life now? He might as well never leave this cage... he really should have slit his own throat. If only the wolf had ripped its own heart out during the night.

His life was now worth nothing. Why...

"Draco..."

Why the hell was she still here. Why wouldn't she leave. Why was she- WHAT THE HELL!

Draco's eyes shot open as soft lips slammed roughly into his.

He wasn't moving his lips against hers and his eyes were wide with panic. Ginny drew back, her hands shaking a little. That had been her first real kiss. On the whole it hadn't been very good. She could taste blood on her lips.

"Ginny?" Draco's voice was dry and startled. "Why... why?"

"To remind you you have something to to live for you prat." Ginny said angrily.

"To live... for..." Draco's eyes widened in understanding. "You mean you... _like_... Me?"

"Yes! Merlin's beard you're dense!" Ginny rocked back on her heels, hugging her arms to her chest. Draco was just sitting there, staring at her. It was like she'd had broken his brain. "Well? Aren't you going to say something?"

"But... you can't..." Draco's eyes were flickering wildly. "You... but I'm..."

"What?" Ginny broke in. "You think because you're a werewolf I could never be with you!"

"Yes!" Draco blurted.

"You think I care!"

"You... you... yes you should care." Draco pulled his throw closer about him. "You should care."

"Well I don't!"

"Well I do." Draco shook his head frantically. "I couldn't do that to you. I mean... associating you with a creature. Couldn't do that. To you. You deserve better. I'm... I'm sorry."

"And what _I_ want." Ginny gritted her teeth, Her heart was a churning whirlpool, beating faster and faster. She didn't know if she wanted to burst into tears or punch the shaking boy in front of her. "That doesn't matter to you?"

"On balance. No." Draco shrunk back to the other end of the cage. "I'm sorry Ginny... you should leave. I'm so sorry. I just... I'm sorry and you..."

"Stop!" Ginny knew which one now. Her fists were twitching. "Just stop you... you... _boy_! You think you can just apologize!"

"Well what else can I do?"

"You can shut up!" Ginny stood and stomped towards the door. "Get yourself out of the bloody cage!"

She slammed the door shut angrily.

Bloody prat.

Draco slammed his forehead against the bars. The ringing note grated on his ears but the pain just melted into the agony already sinking through his skull.

What else could he have done? He was just... broken.

"Well you bolloxed that up didn't you."

Draco's head rose slowly and when he saw who had spoken he quickly pulled his throw around to cover himself better. Harry was leaning against the wall nonchalantly. He had massive black bags under his eyes and he smelled like stale drink and cigars. Draco realized he'd been smelling that for awhile.

"How much did you hear?"

"Not all, but enough." Harry's eyebrows rose.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's done."

"Wasn't gonna mention it." Harry folded his arms. "Wasn't gonna mention how you basically emo-slapped a close friend. How you cut her heart out with a great big knife made of misplaced pathos. Wasn't going to touch on the fact that you're a _TOTAL MORON!_ Not gonna-"

"Shut up Harry. You don't know what you're talking about." Draco pulled his throw closer about him.

"Instead I was going to ask if you think you'll be alright by this evening." Harry smiled evilly. "I found the base of the ninja guys, and I think we need to pay them a visit."

"I don't... I don't know if I'll be up to it." Draco shook his head. It wasn't self pity, just simple truth.

"Well I'm going to be offering them large amounts of your money in addition to mine so you might want to be there."

"Give them whatever you want." Draco waved his hand vaguely. "I don't want any of it. I never did. Just leave me enough to live on."

"So you've decided to live?" Harry stepped forward, grinning cheekily. "If I'd known a kiss was all you needed I would have dragged Ginny here myself. Heck _I_ would'a kissed you if got you to stop eyeing up the letter openers." Harry drew his wand and flicked it towards the cage door. Draco pushed it and it swung open slowly.

"It wasn't the kiss." Draco shakily crawled out of the cage and rose to his feet, the movement making him nauseous. "It wasn't the kiss."

"Don't believe you." Harry shrugged and turned towards the door. "I think someone's making oatmeal in the kitchen. Not Molly Weasley but still..." With a final wave Harry clomped off down the corridor.

Draco leant back against the cage, too tired to try to dress. His life had, in a day, become much, much more complicated. And the lycanthropy was only part of it.

Harry stood outside the door to the ward at St Mungos and bit his lip. It had been over a day since the horrendous battle. Over a day since they had seen him. What was he supposed to say? Would they accuse him of not being there for them? They would be right to. But there had been too many things that he had to do, and not enough time to do them. His magic eye flicked from bed to bed. How could he talk to them when every moment he could see the damage that had been done to them. Damage that was his fault.

"Why haven't you gone in?"

Harry spun at the sound of the new voice behind him, then relaxed. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thea," Harry stepped forward and hugged the little seer, pressing her into his chest. "You're alright."

"I didn't have to do any of the fighting." Pythea murmured against him before pushing away and fixing him with an apprising stare. "Where have you been?"

"I was trying to find out... Trying... I was working." Harry's eyes flickered around to the ward. "I should have come sooner. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize to me." Pythea smiled. "You always get the hard decisions Harry."

"I should go in now."

"No, do something for me first." Pythea put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"What?"

"Tell a joke."

"_What?_"

"I'm serious Harry."

"A... a joke?" Harry didn't know where this was coming from. "This isn't exactly a joking time."

"Harry at the end of last year you promised we had seen the last of the angry, self-destructive, madly driven and vengeful man you had become. Don't break that promise. Don't go through that door as that man, he can't help them. Them, and me, we want the old Harry back. The one I've seen this summer. Please."

"I... I..." Harry felt his mouth dry. Was he going back to the dark place? Maybe. Getting weird magical stuff stuffed into his bones did sound remarkably appealing. But he could still win without it. He wasn't the hero of prophecy, he was doing things his way. Harry smiled wryly. "I jumped off a building."

"What?"

"Twentieth floor. I forgot I don't have a drop-gem any more."

"You jumped off a building?" Pythea incredulousness turned to giggles. "Harry you are insane."

"Broke my cane too." Harry smiled as the girl in front of him chuckled into her hand. "Then I was mugged."

"Mugged? You? Really?"

"If you want a new necklace the guy's teeth are probably still there." Harry grinned. "That enough of a joke for you?"

"That will do nicely Harry." Thea shook her head, still laughing quietly.

"So I can go in now? Or do I have to answer some riddles as well?" Harry asked, smiling. When Thea nodded he stepped towards the door. "Thank you Thea."

"You're welcome Harry."


	48. Stone and the Scorpion: 3

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 3: Negotiating with terrorists

Harry could have sworn his tendons were tensed like rubber bands. His eye was spinning rapidly, seeking every shadow and his heart was pumping with the light staccato hammering of suspense.

"Well this is a wonderful place for an ambush." Harry tugged his coat in closer to him and stared up at the scraggy cliffs to either side.

"Do you see an ambush?" Snape asked calmly, striding next to him.

"No, but I don't trust them not to have some tricks up their sleeve." Harry sighed and trudged forward along the rough stone track. It was late enough that the air was pleasantly cool, the sun still streaming brightly over the cliffs to their left. They were far enough from the muggle road that the only sound in the air was the whistling of the wind and the buzzing of insects.

"Are you certain they are here?" Snape asked, glancing up at the Welsh cliffs. "It does not seem like the kind of place for the _Lie Gou_."

"What were you expecting? Chinatown?" Harry tweaked an eyebrow.

"Perhaps."

"Too predictable." Harry's eye picked up their destination in the distance, shimmering glassily in the sun. It was a moment longer before it came into true view, a little lake in the centre of the valley. The path meandered towards it, crossing a little stream and cutting a path through the heather. As it drew close to the still glassy water Harry drew to a stop and looked down. Little round pebbles.

"Is this it?" Snape stopped next to him.

"This is where the guy said." Harry couldn't see anything out of the ordinary even with his magic eye. It just looked like a normal lake.

"There was a password." Snape prompted.

"Keep your incalculably greasy hair on." Harry knelt down and put his lips right up to the water. "_Agoredig Ffordd_." The pressure of his words made ripples on the water. He straightened up. Nothing had happened.

"Are you certain those were the words?" Snape sounded doubtful.

"Relax teach." Harry closed his eyes. "This is far worse for me if I'm wrong." He leant forward and allowed himself to fall, head first, into the water.

The icy water felt like a curtain of silk. No wetness. No fear. No pebbles. Harry's momentum spun him up on the other side and he had a moment of vertigo when his brain told him he was standing on a ceiling. He took a breath and steadied himself. Everything around him looked the same, same rocks, same wind. He could almost have been fooled into thinking he hadn't moved at all.

With a whispering splash Snape sprang out of the lake. Harry gave him a moment to settle himself before asking,

"Satisfied?"

"That password was Welsh." Snape glanced back at the lake. "Not Chinese."

"I know," Harry shrugged. "I figure this place is probably ancient, the _Lie Gou_ just took it over."

"Interesting," Harry could see the gears spinning in Snape's head.

_If you're thinking there may be other ways in here._ Harry fixed his eyes to Snape's _There probably are, but can we trust that the Lie Gou don't know about them?_

_Not with any certainty._ Snape shook his head. _And you are right. We should communicate this way while in there territory._

_Interesting how you try to make that sound like your idea._ Harry rolled his eyes.

"Did your source tell you where to go next?" Snape said out loud.

"No, but I can guess." Harry smiled and pointed out behind Snape. The potions master turned.

"Ah... yes." The wall of the valley was carved out in massive stone columns and a massive stair had been hacked into the rock. At the top, framed against the setting sun, was a tiered temple in red wood. Rising up to the sky like a pyramid of fire. "I suppose this is the place."

"They should be expecting us." Harry set off, his cane clicking on the stone. "But I'm not looking forward to all those stairs."

As they set off across the heather Harry let his eyes wander. This place looked entirely normal up close but the further away you looked the more the vista seemed flat and unreal, like whoever had made this place hadn't extended it much beyond this valley. There were animals though, insects and birds and rabbits in their holes underground. To what degree was this place just a reflection?

Harry shook his head. An academic or a historian might care. He didn't. They reached the foot of the rough hewn stairs and Harry snorted and turned to Snape.

_If I climb that I'll be useless once we're at the top._

It would be better if we do not show signs of weakness.

Snape agreed, glancing up at the far off temple.

Harry glanced around until his eye fell on a small boulder, no larger than a pillow. He drew his wand and crouched down beside it. One whispered spell made it shift in it's bed of moss. A second made it ring like a bell and with the third it flashed gold.

Harry sat on the stone, crossed his legs and laid his staff across his knees. The stone slowly rose into the air and hovered there, humming quietly. Snape almost looked impressed.

_Would you be able to escape on that if events do not turn out in our favor?_

Don't bet on it.

Harry began floating up the stairs, maintaining eye contact with his teacher. _The spells I used were a very basic version of the ones used to make broomsticks. That should give you an approximate guide to how much control I have over this thing. Slow hovering is the best I can do._

They climbed the steps in silence for awhile, the cool wind whistling around the carved pillars. The land seemed desolate and deserted. _Seemed._

We're being watched.

Harry noted the next time he caught Snape's eye.

_Of course we are._

Remind me what stops them from knifing us on the spot?

The possibility that we can give them more gold than they would earn by killing us.

And if it turns out we can't?

Snape didn't answer. Harry eased his wand in the band of his belt. This would be interesting. The final steps brought the rest of the temple into view. It seemed smaller now than it had before, not much larger than a modest house. It was surrounded by a simple garden, just flat grass and small pool. There weren't even any koi in the pool, just a very British frog. Harry didn't know what he had been expecting. Cherry trees perhaps. But of course these men were assassins, they probably didn't have much time for gardening.

Speak of the devil...

The painted door on the front of the temple opened and an older gentleman in a simple blue robe stepped out.

"We have been expecting you." Was all he said. "Come inside. You must leave your shoes here."

Harry lowered his rock to the floor with a clunk and raised himself to his feet. He unlaced his boots and left them there on the edge of the cliff before stepping towards the door. Snape put a restraining hand on his shoulder and Harry reluctantly let the older wizard lead. The doors were swung open for them and the old man led them through a short hallway.

The walls looked like... walls. They had warded them against magical methods of surveillance and apparently that included his eye. Was that intentional? Had his eye become common knowledge or had the warding always been there as a precaution. Harry tried not to give any sign that he was uncomfortable but for a man who had gotten used to twenty-four seven x-ray views the sudden lack was claustrophobic.

Get it together.

Harry followed Snape and their guide into a room at the side of the building. The false light of this mirror world streamed in through the large windows onto a table standing low on the floor. There was already a pot of tea and three empty cups waiting for them.

"If you would wait here." The old guide said, indicating the table. "I will see if master Sasori is ready to speak to you." He backed out of the room and closed the door behind him. Snape and Harry stepped towards the table and sat cross legged beside it. Neither so much as reached for the tea.

_Sasori sounds Japanese._ Harry noted. _I thought the Lie Gou was based in China?_

_They accept initiates from many places._ Snape's voice was calm in Harry's mind. _And in any case it is almost certainly not his real name. Think no more of it, concentrate on learning what we can._

I'm trying, but my eye's giving me nothing.

Harry admitted to his companion. _Have you learnt anything I should know about?_

I think we are dealing with very intelligent people.

Not that intelligent. Not if they think we're stupid enough to drink the tea.

I meant this building.

Snape glanced around at the walls. _I believe it is larger on the inside than on the outside in the manor of many wizards buildings. However a visitor who had only been shown these few rooms would leave thinking this temple no bigger than it appears._

When in reality whole armies could be housed here.

Harry finished off the thought. _How did you work that out?_

There are certain signs. For someone familiar with this sort of enchantment.

I didn't feel anything.

That is why you are still a student Harry. And why I am still your teacher.

A faint smile tugged at Snape's lips.

_Well you're not directly my teacher._ Harry chuckled. _Not unless you've begin accepting T grades into your NEWT class._

The door was opened quietly and both Harry and Snape's eyes flashed no the new arrival. He was dressed in a suit, black and clean in every line, but Harry could see the knifes hidden in his sleeves. His grooming was every inch the businessman but he had broad tattoos on the backs of his hands, one a wheel of flames, the other a fox's head. A portrait of incongruence. Nothing what it seemed. He was Japanese, Harry could see now, so at least the name wasn't a total fake.

"Good evening." The man spoke quickly and with firm self assurance. "My name is Sasori, and I am the leader of the Lie Gou in this part of the world. You are Severus Snape and Harry Potter. Welcome. I believe you had something to discus with me." Sasori stepped up to the low table and sat quickly. Without waiting for them to speak he reached over and poured himself a small cup of green tea. Harry supposed that was supposed to put them at ease. Why the hell would it?

"We are here to pay you to drop one of your currently existing contracts." Nothing about Snape was moving but his mouth.

"Our arrangement with Tomas Riddle?" Sasori spoke with his tea held up to his lips. "This is the contract you refer to?"

"Yes. We will pay you whatever the dark lord has offered and ten percent more besides. It is a serious offer. You know the gold we have available to us." Snape indicated Harry with his arm. "In return you will not only cease your employment under Voldemort but you will also kill him and bring us both his head and that of his two remaining disciples."

"You offer us that without knowing how much we are being offered already?" The assassin smiled. "You are so sure you can provide what you promise?"

"We have the riches of two ancient wizarding houses behind us. And more besides."

"Yes." Sasori tapped his finger against the edge of his small cup. "But I do not believe it will be enough."

"What has the dark lord offered you?" Harry could sense Snape's tension rising.

"I cannot tell you that."

"Has he offered you something other than gold?"

"No. The Lie Gou have only ever worked for gold. Precious gems in exceptional circumstances. And once, just once, for the hand of a beautiful woman." Sasori smiled. Snape did not.

"Would you prefer if I set a number?" Snape laid his hands on the table. "One million galleons."

"Not nearly enough." Sasori chuckled.

"Ten million." Snape fixed the man across the table with a glare. "The current heirs to the Potter and Malfoy fortunes are surprisingly unworried about fiscal concerns. If ten million is unsatisfactory perhaps you should name your price."

"Perhaps you should realize the meaning of the word no." The man leant forward. "I am rejecting your offer Mr Snape. I do not mean to be harsh but, even if you could pay us more than him, we must honour our commitment to Mr Riddle. It would shame me to do less."

Lies. Harry watched the assassins eyes as he stood. You don't give a rat's arse about honour. That 'shame me' bull is just telling us what you think we expect to hear. Why are you lying? What else is going on here?

"You should both leave now." Sasori stepped away towards the door. "No one will stop you on your way out."

No one did. Which was even weirder.

"That didn't make any sense." Harry commented once they were safely back to headquarters. "It was like he didn't want to give up the contract but didn't want us to know why."

"I am more curious about why they simply let us leave." Snape shook his head. "If the contract with the dark lord means so much to them they should have killed us."

"Perhaps they weren't sure they could beat us?" Harry suggested. At Snape's withering stare he shrugged. "Ok, so that was a stupid idea."

"So we have another mystery." Snape grimaced. "We have too many already."

"Perhaps he's blackmailing them." Harry said hopefully. "Or holding Sasori's wife/daughter/pet hamster hostage. There's obviously some reason why this job's so important to them."

"Perhaps." Snape nodded faintly. "The idea is worth investigating anyway, though he did not seem like a man with loved ones in danger. He seemed too calm."

"He wasn't." Harry growled. "His heart was running a little fast. He was nervous from the moment he stepped into the room. Concealed it well though. Bastard."

"Could you tell if he was lying about anything?"

"I don't think he was." Harry hazarded. "Heart rate isn't a hundred-percent judge of when someone's lying. It was weird, but it almost seemed like he was calmer once you started offering money."

"Strange."

"Whatever." Harry rolled his eyes. "I haven't slept in a surprisingly long time. Unconsciousness doesn't count. I'm going to bed."

"Wait one moment." Snape waved Harry towards the room where he had set up his lab. "I need to check in on what has happened since we left and I believe you should hear it too."

"Don't push yourself they says..." Harry grumbled as he followed after his teacher. "Don't be like you were last year they says. But when I want to _sleep?_ Oh no-"

"Be quiet Harry." Snape snapped as he pushed the door open. Natalies head rose from the table as they entered and she wordlessly pushed a folder towards Snape.

"Has anything of note happened?" Snape asked.

"You could read the file."

"Your assessment will be more succinct." Snape rubbed his temples. "The main points please."

"The autopsy results have come back on the dead fighters. They were not zombies, or inferi. We don't know what they are. Their flesh is just rotting now, nothing living. We did find something unknown in their system but we cannot identify it."

"And the dead _Lie gou?_ The ones Ginerva found in the leaky cauldron?" Snape indicated a bloodstained knife with a tag tied around the handle.

"They were stabbed."

"I gathered that."

"They were poisoned first." Natalie shook her head. "I believe the regime of potions they had been taken made them marginally resistant. The killer had to finish them off. Would you like to hazard a guess as to the poison used?"

"Everybody's friendly neighbourhood vigilante again?" Harry said from his position slouched on a chair. At Natalie's nod he chuckled. "Nice to know he's still out there."

"It would be better if we could bring him in." Snape fixed Harry with a stare.

"You want to arrest him?"

"I want to know how he created his poison." Snape answered tonelessly. "I am sure it could cause even more damage in able hands."

"You are _so_ much cooler than Dumbledore."

"But there seems to be no way to catch him." Snape picked the knife up carefully with the tips of his fingers. "I assume there was nothing usable on this?"

"There was mud, sweat and hair." Snape made no move to drop the knife despite Natalie's words. Harry's ears pricked up.

"It was his knife?" Harry asked quizzically. "I mean not found at the scene or stolen off a corpse? He brought it with him?"

"As far as we can tell yes."

Harry stood, carefully took the blade from Snape's hands and folded it into a piece of parchment from the table.

"He has left evidence in his previous crimes." Snape pointed out. "It has never amounted to anything before."

"Before now," Harry smiled. "You didn't have a seer."

"Harry?"

"Yes Thea?"

"You're in my room."

"Yes, that's true."

"In the middle of the night."

"This is also true."

"The door was locked."

"If you call that pesky charm a lock." Harry grinned in the half-light. This was a game. It was fun. In a lot of ways it was better than sleep. "Don't you want to know why I came?"

"Can I guess?" Pythea arched an eyebrow, but a faint smile played on her lips.

"You can guess." Harry shrugged. "You'll guess wrong but you can guess."

"Really?" Thea leant forward to look into Harry's eyes. The faint light gave her a face a ghostly look, full of shadows. "You don't think I'll guess? What could you be here for?... In the middle of the night..."

Harry didn't say anything. He just chuckled.

"Why, why, why..." Thea leant closer, then smiled. "You want my help with something. You want me to try and see something for you."

"Damnit." Harry shook his head wryly, the spell broken. "You sure you can't read minds any more?"

"I often don't have to." Pythea held out her hand. Harry reached into hie pocket and drew out the knife. "Interesting..." Pythea took it and held it on her lap.

"It was used to kill two of the _Lie Gou_." Harry leant back on the armchair. "I though... I don't know... maybe you could find out who owned it or something. Skry for them or some mystic thing like that."

"Harry go to sleep." Thea was speaking quietly, her eyes still dreamily focussed on the knife in her hands.

"Sleep?"

"This will take awhile, and you're tired." Thea stood up, her eyes still fixed. "Use the bed."

"I can just sleep on a chair-"

"I need the chair. You take the bed."

You don't need the chair. Harry rolled his eyes as he stood and moved over to the bed.

He fell asleep almost instantly, his mind trying to make up for the stress and exhaustion of the past few days. In his dreams he occasionally saw a white figure, chanting softly to something she was holding before her. Even in the dreams he knew what that was. Having an eye that could see through your own eyelids made for realistic dreaming. That was why he knew that she was done far before he eventually woke, the dawn light streaming in through the curtains.

"You didn't wake me." Harry said, his eyes still closed.

"I thought you needed your sleep."

"Like you needed the chair?" Harry opened his eyes and sat upright. On the table next to Pythea a rough map had been drawn on parchment. A small town, nestled in a valley. Further up the map was a delicate X. "The murderer's there?" Harry pointed.

"I do not think so Harry, it was very faint." Pythea shook her head. "The knife lay there a long time before the murderer picked it up. The chances that he is still there are-"

"Low." Harry pulled the rough sketch over to him. The name of the town was written at the bottom in Pythea's elegant hand. "Might as well check it out though, for lack of anything more constructive to do."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"It's a long shot at best." Harry shrugged and pocketed the paper. "Besides, you were up all night. _You_ need the bed now." Harry stood and stepped towards the door. "I'll tell you if I find anything interesting."

"Don't wake me." Pythea's smile waved him out the door.

Harry reached the sleepy village and breathed fresh air. No one much was out yet, the sun hanging was still hanging mistily over the hills.

The map said that the knife came from north of the town. Harry set off in that direction, glad to at least have something constructive to do after all the confusion and chaos. A shopkeeper waved to him while at the same time squinting like he was an intruder. Harry waved back and carried on. The houses thinned out and Harry found himself walking along a country road, fields on either side. He checked his little sketch map again. It was somewhere east of the road.

Harry's eyes scanned the field and the trees beyond it. There was no path to speak of, just a sort of track that looked like it was used by rabbits more often than humans. Harry made for it warily and slowly climbed up through the trees, his walking stick digging into the mud. Harry's eye kept getting flashes from up ahead, through all the trees and life.

As he got closer he slowed down, silencing his footfalls. Between the trees were the ruins of a house. Not even a house, a _shack_. It was surrounded by bramble and almost consumed by the forest. Ivy covered every beam and wall. Without his eye Harry wasn't sure he would have seen it as a house at all.

Without his eye he also wouldn't have seen the man inside it.

Harry slid closer slowly. The man was crouched on the ground, shivering, his thin limbs shaking. Now that Harry was closer he could see the man for what he was, a wretch, he could barely see a shred of flesh on the man's bones. The thing that made up most of his weight was probably his hair and matted beard. It certainly wasn't in the tattered robes he was wearing. Harry scratched his head, wizards aged slower than muggles, so how old was this guy? He looked like he was older than Dumbledore had been.

"_Sashias!_" The man's head jerked up and he spun to look right at Harry through the wall of the building. "_Sashias!_"

What the? Harry jumped backwards and swiftly flung a disillusionment charm over himself. How had he known?

The man scuttled out of the house like a spider and his eyes flashed from one spot to another like an animal.

"_Sassicz._"

Harry tried to move away slowly, trying not to disturb any leaves.

"_Saz!_" The man leant down to the ground and held out his hand. Some... _thing_ slithered out of his sleeve.

It took Harry a moment to realize what he was seeing. It was a snake, small and grey and not much longer than a ruler. But then, it wasn't, it was nothing. Nothing was there but a wisp of curling grey smoke. Harry realized what it was. Only one of his eyes was seeing the snake. To the other it would be just a shadow. To any normally sighted person... the snake would be invisible.

Harry stepped to the side but the snake made for him, slowly undulating it's way through the leaves. Harry stepped again, and the snake changed direction. Making for him like a bloodhound. Harry''s mind threw up little memories of an undiscovered and deadly toxin and stepped away more quickly. The snake kept after him, implacable death. Harry took a deep breath, time to take control.

"Please call off your snake." Harry said, calmly and simply, trying to sound a little like Dumbledore. "I am a friend."

The man's head shot up and the snake froze in the grass. Harry dropped his camouflage and addressed old man directly.

"I am a friend. We both fight Voldemort. Please call off the snake."

"_Sissisi._ " The man's eyes widened. "_Saz, cizissi._"

The snake didn't move, it seemed to be eyeing Harry as sharply as it's master was.

"_Zaccussazic!_"

"I can't understand you." Harry tried to keep calm. "You are speaking... you're speaking in parseltounge aren't you? I need you to speak English."

"_Sisss...sss..._"

"My name is Harry." Harry started again. "What is yours?"

"Name..." The first English word from the old man's lips was guttural and raspy. "Name..."

"Yes, your name. What is it?"

"Important."

"It _is_ important."

"Father said it was important." The decrepit man's brow furrowed. "Said it was _sissica_ all we had."

"Yes." Harry tried to breath. "So what _is it?_"

"Forgot so much." Rotted teeth were ground together in anger. "Made to _cossuza!_ Made to loose it all!"

"Please-"

"Riddle did it!" The old man spat. "Riddle did it to me!"

"I understand." Harry tried to calm the crazy man, keeping one eye on the snake. "He's hurt me too. We're on the same side here."

"I want to kill him!"

"So do I, or failing that dismember."

"He took my mind!"

"I see that. Believe me."

"But I _remembered!_" The man pointed a gnarled finger at his head. "Out on the rock... out on Azkaban rock. He was there _zassiz!_ Broke it open. I saw his face. I _remembered!_"

"What. Is. Your. Name."

"My name?" The man snapped back to the present his eyes fixing on Harry. "My name?"

"Yes."

"Morfin Gaunt."


	49. Stone and the Scorpion: 4

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 4: The Madness within

Harry sat cross-legged on the floor of the tiny hut and looked across at the wizened figure before him. It had taken oven an hour of teasing little nuggets of information from the man in front of him but now he thought he finally had the whole story. Unbelievable as it was.

In a way it was hard to believe that the wizened wretch in front of him, sitting stroking his pet snake 'Smokey' and mumbling faintly, was Voldemort's uncle. Actually re-examining that sentence it was all too easy. Harry tried to remember that this man was a crazy murdering vigilante, a man who had set his snake on people who were already unconscious. His mind was probably irredeemably broken and fried to insanity by his long stay in Azkaban, plus the mind-flay Voldemort had worked on him. At least the false memories were gone now, broken when he saw Voldemort crush the prison. Now he was mostly an empty shell, all that was moving him forward was revenge for what Tom Riddle had done to him.

Harry was currently trying to do two things, the first was think of what to do about the situation. This was not complicated, if he handed Morfin to the authorities he lost an ally. If he didn't it was only a matter of time until someone died who didn't deserve to. But if he handed him to Snape he had the best of both worlds. So that was that. The second thing he was trying to do was think of how to snatch the gold box under the floorboards without Morfin noticing. It was warded too heavily too be Morfin's work, and it was too recent to be the last residents. Which meant it was probably the slithery dark lord.

"Morfin," Harry started slowly. "You can't stay here. You said yourself that Voldemort knows about this place, if he ever figured out it was you this would be the first place he'd look."

"This is my home..." Morfin murmured, still looking at his pet snake.

"Is it more important than revenge?"

"Where would I go?" Now he was holding the serpent like a lifeline. "Where could I..."

"I know one place." Harry stood and gestured out the door. "I'll need to sneak you to a flue point, you can sneak right-"

"Apparate." Morfin unfolded like a paper spring.

"You can apparate?"

"Yes."

"Hmm..." Harry's eyes narrowed. Perhaps this man could be useful after all.

Harry got Morfin settled into one of the abandoned houses he had used during his vagrant months the previous year before doubling back to the shack. He carefully sliced away the floorboards and lifted them away without touching them.

Beneath was the box. He couldn't see inside it, but if someone went to this much trouble to hide something it had to be important. Harry waved his wand to reveal the protections on it and a myriad of flickering webs surrounded the little box. One or two he recognised, most he did not. Harry whistled admiringly (got to admire fine work wherever it comes from) and got to work.

In the end it took till dusk, long shadows making the trees outside loom larger. Harry did one final sweep to check there were no other curses on the box, then flicked it open with the tip of his wand. Inside lay a ring, tarnished gold set with a black stone. Harry ran another test on it and more hours crawled by as he removed the second layer of protection before dropping it into his bag.

Various muscles complained about his prolonged lack of movement as he lifted himself off the floor and levitated the boards back into place. He had done it. But what to do now? Last year he would have kept this secret, secluded himself in some far off corner until he had sorted out the mysteries of this strange object. Harry shook his head, shouldn't let himself fall into that again. Shouldn't. Besides, if he handed the ring to Snape there was a chance he could get some sleep.

"That is an unbelievable story." Snape had his eyes fixed on the ring on the table between them. "I do not doubt you but..."

"I can take you to meet Morfin if you like."

"No doubt I will meet him soon enough. I am more interested in this ring."

"Is it Voldemort's?"

"I have never seen him wearing it." Snape waved his hand through the air over the ring. "Magic sometimes leaves traces. If it was his, in time I shall know."

"Great, I'll leave it with you for now then." Harry stood and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Where are you going?"

"Well first I'm going to eat whatever that is I can smell cooking, then I'm going to fall asleep. Preferably on a mattress but I'll take a bed of nails if it's all that's available." Harry turned and walked out of Snape's lab, letting his nose lead the way.

His cane clicked on the tiles as he walked towards the kitchen but he slowed as he got closer. Raised voices could be heard within. Harry pushed the door open quietly and slid inside. By the stove a wizard with long ginger hair tied in a pony-tail was arguing with a shorter haired one. Harry recognised that one as Percy and, from description, the other one as Bill Weasley. Beside they a frying pan was lying forgotten, bacon burning inside.

On the table nearby Ron and Ginny were huddled, they seemed to be trying to ignore the argument behind them. Harry sidled up to them and slid in beside.

"What's going on?" Harry asked while surreptitious levitating the bacon out of the pan. "Those are your brothers aren't they."

"Yes." Ginny glanced behind her before looking away.

"What are they arguing over?"

"Us." Ginny shook her head. "Because mum and dad are in hospital and they... they aren't getting out soon the ministry says we need a guardian. Bill came here because he thinks it should be him but..."

"Percy disagrees?" Harry caught the burnt rashers out of the air and crunched one into his mouth. "Don't you get a say?"

"Apparently not." Ginny shrugged. Ron just grunted, his head still bowed.

"They need stability!" Percy was yelling from over by the stove. "They need someone with a good job and a good home here in Britain!"

"I have a job!" Bill snarled back. "One that pays more than yours."

"For how long?" Percy snapped. "Gringots fired six of it's human employees just last week. Some people think they're cleaning house."

"And what is that supposed to mean-"

Harry stopped listening. He levitated two eggs out of a basket and cracked them into the pan.

"Does it matter who they pick?" Harry asked his friends. "I mean, I don't have a guardian and I'm aright. Draco doesn't have a guardian. Pythea doesn't have a guardian. Why do they care whether you do?"

"You don't get it Harry." Ginny shook her head. "You just don't."

"Guess not." Harry shrugged. "Anyway's, we're all going to Hogwarts in a few days, it won't matter then."

"I hope not." Ron said quietly. "I hope not."

Harry shook his head. Ginny was right, he didn't understand. Harry summoned his eggs and bit into them. Families eh? They didn't make any sense at all.

Returning to Hogwarts felt strange. The castle and the magical places around it had always felt like they were a separate world. You got on the train at Kings Cross and somehow entered a magical bubble that you couldn't leave except at Holidays. But in the last year Harry had found that the bubble was like swiss cheese, he could leave any time he wanted.

It was sad to lose the illusion. Ah well...

There was something else that was gone as well. The curse on the defence against the dark arts post was apparently gone. Markus Michelson was still there, officially to teach but Harry knew he was now part of the order. The first thing Harry did was ask for special training, for him and all the marauders. They would need it.

Outside Hogwarts the wizarding world was curling up into it's shell like a snail. The massive attack on Diagon alley seemed to be too much for people, they were too scared. There were no more attacks like the first but Voldemort's dead men had been seen all over the country. Spreading fear wherever they went. Yes... they definitely needed to train.

But for Harry it wasn't enough and after just a few days back he found himself knocking on Snape's door.

"Harry." Snape raised an eyebrow as the door opened. "You are no longer in _any_ of my classes."

"I know. I bet you miss the explosions."

"What do you want Harry?"

"Have you made any progress with the ring?"

"No."

"How about with the _Lie Gou?_"

"Inquiries are continuing."

"And about Voldemort?"

"I will let you know if anything important happens."

There was a drawn out moment of silence.

"Is there... anything I can do?" Harry asked.

"I would like you and your friends to continue training with Markus." Snape said flatly.

"To fight?"

"As a last resort."

"So basically you're telling me to sit still and shut up?" Harry folded his arms. "Come on Snape. I can be useful. I'm wasted here! I could do more."

"Can think of something specific that you could be doing?"

"Looking for Voldemort!"

"Where?"

"Everywhere!"

"Peering under every rock?" Snape said sarcastically. "Wouldn't you be _wasted_ doing that?"

"I found the _Lie Gou_ didn't I?" Harry said pointedly.

"By talking to the underworld." Snape shook his head. "Voldemort will not be hiding where petty thieves can find him."

"I need to _do_ something!"

"There is nothing to be done." Snape snapped. "Currently all you are doing is wasting my time... wait."

"Yes?"

"If you want to help with something..." Snape stepped back into his office, then returned with a hand outstretched. "Work on this."

The ring glittered in his hand.

"Aren't you working on it?" Harry reached out and took the ring, looking at it quizzically.

"I can divine no more from it." Snape's voice carried an edge of frustration. "There is something still there it just... I do not know. You have shown an affinity for puzzles. Why don't you try to divine it's secrets? If nothing else it will keep you out of trouble." With that Snape turned and pulled his door shut, leaving a puzzled Harry behind.

Despite the fact that the task had been given to him only to shut him up Harry attacked it with fervour. He tried every revealing spell he knew on the ring but nothing registered. The only time he got any clue that it was anything other than metal and stone was one time when, in a fit of irritation, he put it on. He had felt so strange that he had slammed it back in the box and not looked at it for a day. It had felt like someone was watching him, little prickles down his spine. He hadn't tried to wear it again but had done a whole book's worth of clairvoyance detection spells on it. Nothing happened.

"Maybe it's not magical?" Neville suggested over breakfast. "Maybe Voldemort wanted to keep it for some other reason."

"It's magical all right." Harry had his head slumped down on his arms, staring at the ring in the middle of the table. "I can feel it."

"Harry you're getting obsessed." Padma rolled her eyes.

"I'm not obsessed! I just can't think of anything else!"

"Leave him alone." Ron shook his head. "We know the ring belonged to Voldemort, so it must be important. Can't just ignore-"

"That's it!" Harry sat bolt upright. "It was Voldemort's!"

"But Harry we knew that." Hermione said quizically.

"What I meant was it doesn't matter what spell's on it." Harry explained. "We know Voldemort owned it. So Thea can use it to scry for him, maybe find out where he's hiding."

"That's a long shot Harry." Padma said. "Don't you think Voldemort would have protected himself against that kind of thing?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe he's too weak." Harry stuffed the ring into it's box and stood up. "Do you know where Pythea is this morning?"

"I think she was doing some work for the order. In her apartments."

"Really?" Harry's eye swivelled up in his head. "Ah, I see her." Harry took off out of the great hall. He hurried up to the Hogwarts guest quarters and knocked.

"Come in Harry."

Harry smiled and opened the door. Pythea was sat at the small table in the middle of the room, maps splayed out in front of her. One of the maps had little blue pins stuck in it. Harry wondered what the order was having her do, try to predict where the _Lie Gou_ would strike no doubt. Or trying to find Voldemort.

"You weren't at breakfast." Harry pulled up a chair and sat down next to the seer. "Your loss. There was porridge."

"I had a meeting with several order members last night. It ran on quite late." Pythea sighed tiredly.

"Why is it you get meetings with order people and I don't." Harry cracked a smile. "I mean we're basically the same age."

"I do not believe they realise that." Pythea smiled.

"They're not working you too hard are they?"

"No Harry. I'm fine."

"Cos I can take over some of the workload if you like."

"Are you a seer?"

"No, but I can make it up. Isn't that what you do?" Harry chuckled.

"No."

"Or we could get Trewalny to cover for you!"

"Do you _want_ to send order members to their death?" Pythea laughed and Harry chuckled. Pythea became serious again and leant in towards Harry. "What was it you came here for?"

"I can't just come to visit you?"

"Just ask me."

"Ok, fine." Harry rolled his eyes and slid the ring out of his pocket.

"Harry..." Pythea raised her eyebrows. "We're both a little young to marry."

"Are you sure?" Harry chuckled. "I'm rich, quite rich."

"No you're not. Harry Potter is rich, you're draining his bank account."

"Potato p_o_t_a_to." Harry paused. "That phrase doesn't work so well in print. Not even with italics."

"Stop breaking the fourth wall and tell me what this ring is." Pythea took the ring out of Harry's hand and raised it to her eyes. "There is some symbol on it."

"It's from some nutzo myth." Harry snorted. "The important thing is that this ring belonged to Voldemort."

"And you want me to use it to find him?" Pythea shook her head. "The dark lord will certainly have protected his hiding place from scrying."

"I just need something." Harry pleaded. "He did this ring really carefully, lots of enchantments. It obviously matters to him somehow. I just need to know why. Give me something."

"I will try Harry. But I can not promise anything." Pythea held the ring in both her hands and closed her eyes. "You should get to your lessons Harry. This could take a while."

"Lessons?"

"The things you go to school for."

"Oh right! _Them_." Harry stood and turned to the door. "I'll check back after class. Or before, if I get bored."

Harry slid in late into his double defence class. It didn't matter too much, the marauders were working to a different curriculum. He joined the rest of them and took his place on the duelling line. He glanced at Draco opposite him and noted the deep bags under his eyes and his slouched posture. Full moon last night. He should have remembered.

"How was it?" Harry asked.

"Horrendously painful. Like before." Draco grated dryly. "What did you think?"

"That it would be roses and kittens and barrels of candy." Harry raised his wand. "You know I won't go easy on you."

"Great." Draco shuddered. "Bloody wonderful."

Harry didn't go easy on him. It would have been insulting. After the class Draco went to find a bath of ice to lie in and Harry went back to Pythea's quarters. He knocked and pushed the door open.

"Any progress?" Harry asked the little seer.

"No Harry." Pythea shook her head. "I could not find anything."

"Are you sure?" Harry slouched dejectedly. "Nothing? Not even why he hid it?"

"Lord Voldemort protected himself too well." Pythea shook her head. "I could find nothing."

"Damnit." Harry scratched his head. "I really hoped... well never mind."

"I will keep trying." Pythea stood, her hands folded in her sleeves in front of her. "If I find anything I will tell you at once."

Harry froze. Twisted tendrils of fear grew around his heart. He had seen...

"You're wearing the ring." Harry stated flatly.

"Yes." Pythea responded without missing a beat. "To obtain a better connection."

"Take it off." Harry slid around the table with his hand out.

"Harry you are being irrational."

"Please take the ring off Thea." Harry tried to sound calm. He failed. "Just take it off. Please."

"There is really no need."

"Humour me."

"You are worried over nothing."

"If it's nothing take it off."

"If I wear it at all times I may see something I missed."

"Just take the freekin ring off Thea!" Harry stepped towards her. "Please take it off!"

"No." Pythea took her hands out of her sleeves. Her voice was like ice. "I will not."

"Oh... crap." Harry froze, his hand hovering over the pocket where he kept his wand. "You're not Thea any-more are you?"

"You seem unsettled Harry." Pythea smiled thinly. "Is there some sort of problem?" Pythea's hands were raising slowly. Harry twitched towards his wand. The hands stopped moving.

"You're Voldemort. Somehow you're Voldemort." Harry had looked into the snake faced bastard's eyes enough times to recognise him staring back. "The ring was... was like the diary."

"You found my diary?" Voldemort raised one dainty eyebrow. "That is disappointing. But no matter, even if the diary was destroyed I still survive and this... this body will do nicely."

"You're a freak who keeps trying to possess young girls." Harry tried to edge his hand closer to his wand. Voldemort's eyes snapped to his hand. Harry stopped. "Just let her go."

"No."

"You will let her go." Harry's teeth ground together. "Or so help me I will make whatever life you have full of pain."

"Threats?" Voldemort smiled again. "You cannot threaten me. Any harm you do to me hurts the girl. You could never hurt someone you care about-"

"Wrong." Harry slammed his fist forward into his face. Voldemort fell backwards but Harry had already grabbed his arms and slammed them behind his back. Lightning flashed from his fingers to the floorboards, bathing the room in white light. Flames burst out of nowhere and Harry could barely hold onto the writhing figure in his arms.

"_Karziet!_" Harry threw them both to the side as every piece of glass in the room exploded. Harry felt shards bite into his face and hands but he held on grimly. He had to get that ring off! He reached for it but a black orb exploded out of Voldemorts thin hands, taking the end of his finger off.

"Stop bloody moving!" Harry slammed Voldemort onto the table and grabbed desperately for the ring, tearing it off his finger and flinging it into the fire.

Pythea instantly stopped moving, lying against the table. Harry slowly released her arms and looked into her face. Her nose was gushing blood freely (his fault), and her eyes were squeezed shut.

"Thea?" Harry whispered into her ear. "It's alright. The ring's gone. It's alright."

"I'm so sorry." Thea murmured, her eyes still shut. "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok." Harry drew his wand and sprayed a thick stream of water over the burning room before turning back to Pythea. "Are you ok? I mean are... are you ok?"

"He got into my head." Pythea was shuddering, still not moved from her position sprawled on the table. "The harder I pushed into it the more he had me."

"I'm so sorry." Harry stepped forward and enveloped Pythea in a hug. "I should have never given it too you, I should never-"

"No! It's my fault. I should have been more careful." Pythea opened her eyes and raised her hand to brush Harry's face. "I'm sorry."

"It was my fault."

"I tried to kill you!"

"Voldemort did. Not you." Harry pulled her closer to him. "But it's alright now."

They stayed there like that for a while. The room smelt like sodden ashes but neither of them wanted to move. Finally Harry pulled back and smiled.

"Come on, we'd better get you to Madam Pomfrey. She'll have to un-break your nose." Harry shook his head. "Sorry I had to hit you so hard."

"You always choose the most direct solution to any problem. That is part of your charm." Pythea leant forward and kissed him lightly on his bloodstained forehead. Harry could feel a shard of glass move under her lips, when she moved back it fell out, clinking onto the table between them. Harry's heart skipped about a million beats.

"We should get you to Madam Pomfrey too." Pythea said breathlessly. "You taste of blood."

Harry left the seer in the hospital wing and made straight for Snape's office. He entered without knocking.

"Harry." Snape's head snapped up from his desk. "I heard you managed to injure yourself again."

"It had been too long since I had to grow flesh back." Harry reached into his bag and brew out the box with the ring in it, dropping it onto the desk. In short sentences he explained what had happened. When he was finished Snape leant back, gazing at the ring thoughtfully.

"Anyway I think it's like the diary." Harry sighed. "I'm sorry Professor. I should have seen it."

"How precisely should you have seen it? On the surface the items have no resemblance to one another." Snape said disparagingly.

"I just... If I had seen it sooner Pythea wouldn't have-"

"I despise misplaced guilt Potter. You have never displayed it before so do not start now." Snape picked up the ring's box with his long fingers. "Your experience tells us something. Now I merely have to work out what."

"That easy huh?" Harry asked wryly.

"Easier than it was before." Snape looked like he was about to say something else but the door was pushed open. Lucy Kindston was on the other side, plainly out of breath.

"Harry, you need to get to the Hospital wing."

"I was just there."

"Well you need to get back."

"Wh..." Harry's eyes widened. "Thea?..."

"Just go Harry."

Harry's heart was beating fast as he bolted out the door.


	50. Stone and the Scorpion: 5

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 5: Sickness

"Why aren't you doing anything." Harry had his fingers gripped tightly around the bar at the foot of the bed.

"There isn't anything we can do Harry." Madam Pomfrey said quietly. "We don't know what is wrong with her."

"Then why aren't you looking." Harry snarled. He couldn't look away from the bad in front of him. Lying on it, her skin deathly pale, lay Pythea. "Why aren't you doing something? Her heart's getting slower."

"You can't know that Har-"

"HOW MANY EYES DO I HAVE!"

"I... Harry please." Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "There is nothing I can do. Professor Snape is trying to-"

"He's failing. He won't find anything." Harry snarled. "There's nothing on that god damn ring!"

"Then there is nothing that can be done."

"I just need to do something!" Harry shuddered with nervous energy.

"Until we know what the ring did to her we cannot fix it."

"Then..." Harry breathed. "Then we need something that fixes everything!"

"Harry nothing like that exis- Where are you going!"

Harry stomped out of the hospital wing as fast as his injured leg would carry him and barged past the clustered marauders.

"Where are you going Harry?" Ginny yelled at his retreating back.

"Out."

"We should come with you to-"

"No." Harry snapped as he tried to put some distance between himself and his friends. Unfortunately none of them were down a leg and could keep up with him easily.

"Harry this is for Pythea isn't it?"

"No. I'm going for a walk in the park with the fluffy bunny rabbits."

"Harry let us help you!"

"Go away you bloody-"

"You promised you wouldn't do this any more Harry." Neville broke in suddenly. Harry froze. He had.

"I did." Harry turned slowly. "Does anyone know how to climb mountains?"

"Harry where are we?" Hermione panted.

"Mountain." Harry barked as he stabbed his hiking pole into the ground and stomped on. Beside him the gaunt shape of Morfin shook in what could have been a silent chuckle.

"She meant specifically." Lucy Kingston was up ahead, the only one of them who seemed to be actually enjoying the climb. "Those buildings down there look like we're somewhere in the middle east?"

"Turkey." Harry winced as he slipped on the loose rocks and had to catch himself on his pole. "North Anatolian. That's where we are specifically. Where we are relatively is '_Not high enough_'"

"Where are we headed to Harry?" Lucy squinted up at the snowy peaks ahead. "What are we trying to find?"

"You'll see by nightfall." Harry tried to ignore the stabbing pain in his leg as he forced himself higher and higher. "We need to be at the snowline by the time it gets dark or we won't see them."

"I hope you don't want to get to the top Harry." Hermione was still trailing. "We don't have any oxygen or proper clothing."

"Not to the top." Harry glanced up. "Probably. Anyway I thought you'd climbed before?"

"In Wales, with my parents. Hiking a little." Hermione glanced down the long trail they had followed. "Not like this."

"Well you volunteered so live with it. I'm having a worse time of it than you." Harry glanced up ahead and shook his head. "The path's blocked with rocks this way. We need to go... that way. For a while at least. Then we can track back, along the ridge."

"What ridge?"

"You can't see it yet. It's past the cliff." Harry pointed with his stick. "Looks like we have to scramble just for a bit then it's a good path. Keep up that... then... over past that cliff..." Harry trailed off, the other two marauders were looking at him strangely. "I can see because of the eye. You knew that."

"What's it like?" Lucy asked quietly.

"You get used to it. Like walking around seeing double, except one of the doubles is see through. Makes you dizzy when you spin too fast." Harry paused for a moment to catch a breath. "Come on... we've got a long way to go and Thea's dying."

They hiked up into the snowline, Harry didn't let them stop until they could see snow on all four sides. When they could he cleared a circle around them and heated the ground so they would be warm.

"Why don't we just have a fire?" Lucy sat down cross legged on the ground.

"Because then we won't be able to see." Morfin chuckled darkly.

"He's right. You're going to need to see in the dark and you won't with a fire right next to you." Harry smiled slyly. "I can only look in one direction and I'm not taking chances."

Harry sat down, looking in another direction and waited. Slowly it got darker and darker. At least the moon was out, that helped a little. Now all they had to do was watch...

"What are we waiting for?" Hermione asked quietly in the darkness.

"Fire. Look for fire."

"Oh...!" Hermione's eyes opened wide with shock. "Are we looking for-"

"Yes. Now concentrate and keep looking."

"Have you ever been there before-"

"No." Harry glared out into the darkness, waiting for a sign. The night air grew colder and colder... whispering past the four seated figures. Morfin was muttering something in parseltounge up his sleeve. Harry wondered for a moment if he had been right to bring him. No... of course he had to. Without someone to apparate them it would have taken them ages to get up this high. Couldn't apparate the rest of the way though. Funny things happened if you tried.

"There!" Lucy pointed off into the distance. "I saw a flash, like a firework."

Harry turned and squinted off in the direction she was pointing. His eye zoomed in to it's fullest and...

"That's it. Good show." Harry stood and lit his wand. A spark in the darkness. "Come on."

"We're going there now?" Lucy shook her head. "You want to travel around in these mountains at night!"

"By morning it'll have moved." Harry explained. "And besides, it isn't night for me."

Harry started off into the black, with Morfin following silently. Hermione looked at Lucy and gulped, before lighting her wand and following them into the murk. It was a terrifying journey, following Harry's unwavering path across the tops of cliffs and along scree filled paths in the dead of night. Hermione kept telling herself it was for Pythea, for Harry's friend. She even tried to look forward to the site they would see at the end. But it wasn't enough to counter the fear.

Every rock that skipped away from her feet sounded like a crack of thunder.

Ahead of her she could hear the strange man Morfin muttering, behind were the steady, solid tramp of Lucy's boots. Occasionally the girl behind her would reach out and lay a steadying hand on her shoulder, making her jump. Hermione was grateful for the gesture, she just wished Lucy would give her some warning.

"This is it." Harry's voice was like a knife through the blackness. Up ahead she could see him crouching beside a rough crack in the rock, just large enough to fit a man. As she watched the inside flashed like there was an explosion deep inside, but it faded again in a moment. Hermione breathed deeply, trying to keep calm.

"Nervous?" Harry asked quizzically. "Don't be. After all we're a group of teenagers going into a spooky cave in the middle of the mountains in the dead of night with a mass murderer. What could possibly happen?"

In the dark, Morfin grinned like a tiger.

"Harry..." Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Stop that."

"You've got nothing to worry about." Harry grinned. "They'll even be other wizards inside. Come on, lets get to it. I want to back in Hogwarts by morning."

Harry slid into the crease in the rock and dissipated from view. Hermione steeled herself, then ducked in after him. The cave was really more of a tunnel, crawling forwards in a straight line. Of course what it really was was probably some sort of magic doorway that connected two different places entirely. Hermione found herself looking at the walls to try to see the joins. Up ahead the flashes were becoming more frequent and a steady red glow was growing between them. Hermione felt excitement grow, she was really going to see it... really going to...

"We're here." Harry stepped out of the tunnel ahead of her, giving her a full view as she pulled herself out of the rock. Her mouth dropped open as she saw what lay before them...

"Merlin's... something!" Before them the cave opened up into a deep valley, like an axe wound in the side of the mountain. Towering walls rose up on either side of them craggy and full of more caves and pits. In the small strip of ground in the middle there was a grove of what looked like olive trees twisty and ancient like they were older than the mountain itself. But that wasn't the most amazing thing. Flying above them in great sweeping curves, and nesting in the rock... hundreds of them... filling the valley with fiery light and making the whole place fool like a living fireworks display. Filling the valley with song, and the echoes of song...

"Phoenixes." Lucy Kingston breathed in wonder. "You brought us to the nesting ground."

"Yep." Harry nodded. "Since we don't know what Thea's got we need something that heals almost everything. Phoenix tears is a good bet."

"They don't cry for just anyone Harry." Lucy pointed out. "Otherwise every hospital in the world would have gallons on the stuff."

"There's at least one that'll cry for me. Fawkes." Harry squinted up into the brilliant flaming sky. "We just need to find him."

"Easier said than done."

"Why don't you two ask."

Ask? Hermione scratcher her head. It was only when Harry pointed that she realised they were not alone in the valley. Down by the trees there was a group of four wizards clustered around a tent, one of them was looking through a telescope while another was jotting down notes in a large heavy book. Further down the valley, on a flat table shaped rock that jutted out of the leaves, was another group. These wizards were all in black robes and were clustered around a weird bird shaped idol. They were down on their knees and seemed to be chanting.

Worshippers. Hermione realised. Worshippers and researchers.

"Why don't you handle the nerds." Harry pointed at Hermione first, then turned to Lucy. "And you handle the wierdos. It'll go round and and see what I can spy with my little eye."

"And me?" Morfin cracked his neck.

"You stay with me." Harry turned to walk off.

Hermione shared another look with Lucy before they began picking their way down towards the trees. Even though she knew that a girl's life was at stake Hermione couldn't help but feel awe and wonder at this place. Going off in the at the drop of a hat, climbing mountains and visiting amazing magical sites. Was this what Harry's life was like _all the time?_

Below her one of the researchers looked up and noticed her. He rolled his eyes and started towards her.

"Please don't disturb the birds. Try to not use flash photography, they can confuse it with an attack. If you're camping please don't play loud music-"

"We're not tourists." Hermione held her hands up.

"Oh, then you'll be with the other weird bast- believers." The researcher pointed back into the trees.

"I'm not-"

"Mind the bonfires and the flayed goats."

"I'm not one of them!" Hermione said in exasperation. "We're here to get-"

"Ah, you're here to get Phoenix tears. The _other_ reason people come up hers." The man rubbed his forehead. "Let me guess your friend or your mother or your boyfriend is sick and you think tears are the only cure. I hate to tell you this but-"

"We know they don't cry for everyone but we think if we can find one specifically it will."

"Really?" The researcher finally looked slightly interested. He glanced up at the cliff where Harry was just visible edging up a thin path, peering into cliffs. Several Phoenixes had begun following him interestedly, hopping from rock to rock eyeing him with beady eyes. "Who are you guys anyway?"

"Well that's Harry Potter, and we're his friends." Hermione smiled at the shocked look that appeared on the researchers face. His three friends looked up too, forgetting their notes for a moment. Hermione felt like kicking herself, of course she should have said that first. "We're looking for a phoenix called Fawkes."

"We... we don't record names. How could we? The phoenixes don't talk." The man kept glancing up at the cliff where the shadowy figure of Harry had gone out of site into a cave. Another phoenix flew over to join the small flock that was following him. "We don't record names I don't... I don't know if we can help."

"He would have come here during summer last year, he left England in June." Hermione explained. "When he left Hogwarts he looked like he was in his third month since a burning day so when he reached you he might have been in his fourth or fifth.. He's a male, with a wingspan slightly above average."

"I... we'll check." The researcher turned and hurried over to their workbench where he cracked open a heavy book of notes and began flicking through them. Hermione followed him and began reading over his shoulder. Everything was recorded, burnings, arrivals, odd behaviour. If Fawkes was in the valley he would be recorded here somewhere.

"What about that?" Hermione pointed suddenly at an entry hear the middle of the page. "That one fit's the time frame."

"Y... yes. Yes." The researcher nodded. "Phoenix number 713. It would be that one wouldn't it." The heavy book was slammed closed and the man turned towards the cliff wall. "I'll take you there."

Hermione set off following, sending _micos_ to Harry and Lucy. She and her guide reached the cliff wall and began climbing up a thin winding path. Lucy caught up to them when she was halfway up.

"You found him?" Lucy was out of breath. Hermione nodded. "Good, those other wizards were weird."

They climbed further up around the rocks, passing many perching phoenixes. The birds eyed them as they passed, but did not follow. After a few minutes they reached a short ledge with a large cave.

"This is 713's nest." The researcher pointed into the rock. "He should be in there. But it looks like you friend found him first."

All around the edge of the ledge, phoenix were perched, looking in. None of them were singing, none of them were making any sound at all above the rustling of their feathers. They were just watching. Another flew in and alighted at the end of the row. It trilled softly, then went silent like it's brethren.

"I've never seen them do this." The researcher said softly. His hands twitched like he was looking for a notepad. Hermione steeled herself, and stepped into the cave.

It opened out in the back into a small dome, the floor littered with sticks and leaves. The remains of past nests. Morfin was crouched at the back, he made no move when they entered. He was staring at the same thing they were. The tableau in the centre of the cave.

Harry was down on his knees, his walking stick discarded beside him. His eyes level with the eyes of the phoenix in front of him. He wasn't moving or speaking either, the only sign that he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest. The phoenix, Fawkes, was shivering. A large part of it's back was bald and scabby and it's wings looked shredded. There were feathers all around it, an unnatural moulting, and it's head drooped on it's long neck.

"713's been like this for a while." The researcher said quietly. "That's why I said I knew it'd be him. He hasn't burned since he got here and he's due. Long overdue. If he doesn't burn before winter hits then..."

"What happens if a phoenix doesn't burn?" Lucy asked softly.

"We don't really know. That's part of the reason we're watching him."

"Could he..." Hermione swallowed. "If he goes for long enough without a burning day could he... die?"

"It's possible." The researcher answered sadly. "We don't think it's ever happened before. The other phoenixes have been avoiding this cave, up till now at least. It's very interesting behaviour, I was thinking of writing a paper on-"

"Shh! Something's happening." Lucy pointed towards the centre of the cave.

Without moving from his spot, Harry had reached out his arm and was slowly stroking the side of Fawkes' head. The golden bird trembled for a moment, then leant it's head into Harry's hand, cooing softly. Harry reached back with his other hand into his bag and came back with a small glass bottle. He held it carefully to the side of the phoenix's face.

Everyone in the cave watched, awed, as first one shiny tear dropped into the glass. Then another. All the while Harry kept stroking Fawkes' head with his fingers, and kept eye contact. Another drop in the glass. Another. The glass slowly filled to the brim with glittering liquid before finally Harry took it away and carefully capped it.

Fawkes collapsed out of Harry's hands, dropping onto it's rough nest. It was as if the emotion had been too much for it. Fawkes just lay there as Harry put a quick sealing charm on the tears and turned to the marauders.

"It's done."

"Harry how did you do that?" Hermione asked, wide eyed.

"We talked. About old times." Harry shrugged. "He's lonely."

"I wonder if phoenixes could fight those dead men Voldemort has." Lucy mused. "That could be really useful."

"Phoenixes don't fight for anyone but their masters." Harry shook his head.

Hermione remembered the flock that had gathered outside and had the twinging suspicion that might not be true.

"Anyway. We should go now. Come on." Harry sat down again and reached out a hand to Fawkes. "He's offered to be our ride home."

"Is he well enough to do that?" Hermione stepped forward.

"He's fine. He's depressed not sick." Harry motioned them towards the bird. Hermione sat and placed her hand on Fawkes' tail. Lucy did the same and Morfin slunk out of the shadows to join them.

"Thank you for helping us." Hermione turned to the shocked researcher and waved with her free hand. "Sorry I couldn't stay to see more of your work. Maybe I'll come back some time."

"O...Ok?"

Flames rose about the marauders and everything dispersed.

Snape was just snipping a small piece of hair from the dying seer (he needed to do more tests) when two loud noises disturbed his concentration. The first was a rushing explosion. The second was-

"HARRY POTTER WHAT IN MERLINS NAME-"

"What? No one's ever appeared in the middle of the hospital wing in a gout of flame before?" Harry replied glibly to Madam Pomfrey as he stood from his position on the floor. The phoenix behind him made a sound somewhere between a trill and gurgle and turned as if to leave.

"Fawkes!" Harry stepped in front of the phoenix and crouched back down to meet it's eyes. "Thank you."

The phoenix bowed it's head a little.

"You know, there's something I've learnt recently. Something my friends are trying to beat into me." Harry smiled wryly. "Destroying ourselves for the ones we love is never the right choice."

Fawkes fluffed his feathers and bowed his head. A moment later flames sprung up around him and be vanished. Leaving ash behind.

"I hope he's alright." Harry stood and turned towards the bed. "How is she?"

"She is getting worse." Madam Pomfrey visibly pulled herself together. "We still haven't found the curse effecting her."

"When you left I wondered where you had gone." Snape folded his arms and nodded towards the burn mark on the floor. "Now I see. You should have warned me before you left."

"Do you think it'll work?" Harry ignored Snape's words and lifted small bottle out of his pocket.

"I think it is worth trying since you have it."

"How non-committal." Harry moved shakily towards the bed. Snape could tell he was trying to keep calm. "What do I do? Let her drink it or... or let..."

"Give it to me." Snape held out his hand calmly. Harry slowly reached forward and dropped the tears into the outstretched hand. Snape leant down and softly tilted Pythea's mouth open wih his thumb. He undid the stopper and allowed three drops to fall onto her mouth. Snape waited. You had to allow the tears a little time to seep into the flesh then... another three drops. Then wait.

He continued until the bottle was empty, upending the last few sparkling drops with a whispered prayer of hope. He handed the bottle back and put his fingers to the little seer's neck. All day her pulse had been slow and weak. Now...

"Nothing happened." Harry took the words out of his mouth. Words that sounded even darker than the truth behind them. "It didn't work."

"No." Snape took his hand away. "It did not work."

"Maybe it just hasn't taken hold yet." Lucy Kingston suggested.

"The effect would have been instantaneous." Snape shook his head.

"I so thought..." Harry whispered. "I put everything on this... She's going to die."

"Harry stop." Snape fixed his eyes to the tear filled ones in front of him. "It is not over yet. This tells us something. There are very few things phoenix tears do not heal, now that we know it is one of them-"

"Stop." Harry shook violently. "Stop trying to make me feel better. I gave her the ring and it's killing her and I can't do anything to stop it."

"There are still avenues of investigation that-"

"SHUT UP!" Harry shouted so violently that Madam Pomfrey stepped back in fear. Snape Didn't move.

"Harry. I will not baby you." Snape spoke slowly. "Yes, a portion of the responsibility for what has happened is yours. You gave her the ring. But another portion is mine. I worked with that ring for days and detected nothing that could have caused this. I told you it was safe. What has happened is also my responsibility and believe me when I say I will not have another death on my conscience. While she still breaths I will continue to believe she can be saved. As should you. Now... I am taking some of her hair to Paris, to a world expert on things such as this. I have worked with him before. I am hopeful. As for what you should do... I suggest you stay here. And if you have any more fool notions about running off to distant parts of the world in search of some miracle cure..." Snape took a deep breath. "... I suggest you pursue those notions to the fullest because that is what you are best at, and that is how best you can help your friend."

Snape lapsed into silence, waiting. After a few moments Harry slowly nodded.

"Good." Snape turned and walked from the hospital wing, the lock of hair he had cut still in his hand.

_Pursue your fool notions to the fullest._

Harry slowly walked out of the hospital wing. No one tried to stop him.

_Running off to distant parts of the world in search of some miracle cure_

There was no such thing as a miracle cure. If there was everyone would use it. Harry found his feet moving of their own accord, taking him on familiar routes.

_Fool notions_

I am a fool. Harry found the door he had been looking for and got out his wand. It was locked of course, but not even this door was too hard to crack. In a few minutes Harry had the charms down and pushed open the door to Snape's office.

_Running off to distant parts of the world_

Snape was the one in Paris. Harry closed the door quietly. He wouldn't be disturbed. His eye zoomed around the small room and came to light on one of the desk drawers. Harry checked it for enchantments then slowly pulled it open and picked up the ring from inside.

_Destroying yourself for the ones you love is never the right choice._

Too bad it's the only choice left.

"There is no miracle cure. Not without knowing what's wrong with her." Harry whispered into the dark surface of the ring. "Only one living person knows what curse is affecting her. And I need to talk to him."

Slowly, with trembling hands, Harry slid the ring onto his finger.


	51. Stone and the Scorpion: 6

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 6: Control

Harry slid the ring onto his finger and sat slowly behind Snape's desk. How would this work? How long would it take? Would he even be able to speak directly to Voldemort or would he just hear him in his mind?

"It depends on how you want to talk."

Harry's head snapped up from the ring. On the other side of the desk sat Tom Riddle, sitting on the chair students used when they were called into this office. It was a wooden, hard backed chair but he lolled in it like it was a throne. He wasn't quite the same figure that had came out of the diary. He looked the same age but his features were... glassy. His skin was smooth and pale and his eyes had little flecks of red. Through the magic eye he looked ghostly and faint, but through his true eye the dark lord looked real.

"What do you mean it depends?" Harry crossed his arms.

"Well we can talk like this..." Riddle smiled. Or we can talk like this.

"Talking out loud is fine Tommy." Harry placed his hands flat on the desk, the ring displayed prominently forward. "Tell me what you did the Pythea."

"I took over her soul. You know that." Tom Riddle chuckled. The red in his eyes sparkled. "You punched her as I remember. You do know that that's no way to treat a lady."

"I wasn't talking about that." Harry snarled. "What's happening to her now? Some wasting curse or something..."

"Really?..." Riddle leant back in his chair. "That... that is unfortunate. You must be crushed."

"Shut up."

"I must extend my deepest condolences."

"Shut up!" Harry slammed his hand down on the desk. "Tell me what the curse is! You obviously hid it well. When I found the ring I removed a shrivelling curse, a _samyaza_ and something I hadn't seen before that would have turned blood to lead in my veins. What did I miss?"

"The lead spell is called a _plumb-sang._"

"Tell me you bastard! Tell me or I'll destroy you."

"Destroy me?" Tom crossed his arms. "I doubt you could. And even if you could it does not matter. After all I am not lord Voldemort, I am just an... image."

"No you're not. You're lying." Harry chuckled. "You're more than an image. You have the mind of Voldemort at least, which means you have all his qualities. Qualities like cowardice and self preservation. I think you will tell me what I want to know."

"Self preservation? Perhaps." Tom Riddle leant forward. "But the fact remains that you have no idea how to destroy this ring."

"Phoenix fire destroyed the diary." Harry gritted his teeth together. "And I know a phoenix who's probably abut ready to burn."

"Phoenix... " Tom Riddle paused and licked his lips. "That will not work."

"Yes it will. You're lying again."

"I am not..." Riddle was breathing quickly. "I have no need to lie. I am the dark lord, you have no power over-"

Harry pulled the ring off his finger and the dark lord snapped out of existence mid sentence. Harry held the ring up to his face and said,

"Don't think you have any sort of power here _Tommy_." Harry slapped the ring twice against the desk with loud ringing knocks. "You hear me in there? You've got no cards here! Understand? You will tell me or I will kill you!" Harry slammed the ring back on his finger. The dark lord reappeared where he had been, his face a mask of rage.

"You cannot do this to me! I am lord Volde-" Harry pulled the ring off again.

"When I put the ring back on..." Harry snarled. "You will drop the whole '_I am lord Snakeface_' thing and tell me exactly what I want to know or you're going to the fire." Once again the dark lord reappeared, eyes flaring almost full red. But he said nothing.

"Ready to talk yet?" Harry rubbed the band of the ring on his finger. "Just say one word. The name of the curse, that's all you have to say and I put the ring back in the drawer and we never have to speak again."

"I... You can't do this to me." The dark lord's eyes flickered back and forth. "You... you cannot..."

"Just tell me the name of the curse. That's all you have to do to avoid being burnanated. Just tell me."

"I... I am Lord Voldemort." Tom Riddle's teeth were gritted closed and his hands were gripped to the sides of his chair.

"No you're not. You're a prisoner. A prisoner who's not even alive so there's no requirement for me to not kill you. Tell me what the curse is."

Riddle's breath was coming swift and shallow.

"Tell me!" Harry yelled. "Tell me!"

Riddle snarled like a dog.

"Tell me!" Riddle was shaking. Not in anger Harry realized... He was shaking in fear. Riddle was terrified. Harry's brow furrowed... Why would he be that scared... "You have no idea what happened to Thea... Whatever happened to her... it wasn't your curse... it wasn't your ring..."

Voldemort had stopped dead, frozen in place, his eyes burning like coals.

"Well..." Harry shook his head. "That's something at least." Harry reached for the ring and jerked it forward. It would not move. Harry's eyes jerked up. Tom Riddle was smiling like a cat.

"Well well well Potter." Riddle smirked. "It seems I do have some power after all."

Harry tried desperately to drag the ring off his finger, it would not move an inch. Harry grabbed for his wand to slice the finger off but he couldn't make his mouth speak the words.

_A great deal of power._

Voldemort's was in his head now, the figure gone from the other side of the desk. Harry stumbled and fell against the rough stone wall. Wait... wall? Harry flicked his eyes up. He was in the corridor! He hadn't moved of his own accord... His feet were moving again! Harry clamped his feet down on the floor and slammed his arm against the wall. His wand dropped from his numb fingers.

_Feeling a little less in control Mr Potter?_

"MYRTLE!" Harry screamed into the blank air. "Myrtle get here or get help!"

_Calling help from one of my old victims?_

"Someone!" Harry yelled. His wand was back in his hand... NO! Harry forced his fingers to open again and the wand clattered down. Harry slammed his foot down and snapped the little sliver of wood like a twig. He couldn't let Voldemort loose in his body in the middle of Hogwarts. Could not...

_You think you have a choice?_

"MYRTLE!" Harry fell to the floor. His muscles were twitching, every flickering part of him was trying to move. "Help me!"

_Ha ha ha ha!_

"Someone!" Harry was on his feet again. Not by choice. He was staggering forward, trying to stop himself... but. "_Mico marauders! Mico anyone!_" Wouldn't work without a wand.

_There is no help for you Mr Potter._

Harry frantically tried to scrape the ring off his finger. It wasn't moving. Not an inch. Black spots were flying before his eyes.

_You are mine now._

"Harry what in the hell?" The voice sparked out of the air above him. Harry's head flickered up, at the top of the stares was the tired and moon-sick figure of Draco Malfoy.

"Draco... It's not the ring!" Harry croaked out. He had to tell someone what he'd found. "Pythea! It's not the ring that made her sick! It's... It's... It's something else!"

"Harry what's wrong with you?"

_Nothing._

"Nothing." Harry clenched his teeth closed. "No! Tell Madam Pomfrey!... And get this bloody ri- Nothing is wrong Malfoy."

_Go away you little traitor._

"Harry your... your eyes." Draco's hand flickered to his wand. "They're red."

_I'm just tired. They are bloodshot._

"I'm just tired." Harry's neck muscles twisted his head in a shaking motion. "They are bloodshot."

"Harry maybe we should go to the hospital wing together." Draco's eyes had gone hard and he had drawn his wand. "I think you may be unwell."

"Unwell Malfoy?" Harry hissed. "Don't presume to-"

"Stop." Draco pointed his wand straight between Harry's eyes. "Draw your wand slowly and drop it to the floor."

"Please... friend-"

"Do it."

"Hmm..." Voldemort twitched Harry's lips into a smile. "I see there's no point pretending anymore. What was it that gave me away?"

"Harry doesn't call me by my last name." Draco's eyes narrowed above deep black bags. "You're... something else."

"I am more than something else." Voldemort thrust Harry's hand forward, displaying the ring. "I am your rightful master little dog. Heel."

"Oh wonderful." Draco muttered.

"Die!" Harry's hand was flung forward and a sparkling bolt of lightning flared out. Draco dodged and flung himself to the floor. Voldemort spun Harry's body for a second hit but Harry flung the last vestiges of his strength onto his treacherous muscles. His arm stopped moving for a fraction of a second.

"_Stubefy!_" The red spell flashed out of Draco's wand and everything went black.

Harry was used to crazy dreams so when he found himself in a dark place full of screaming and hissing he just sat on the floor and thought of apples. After a little while the darkness faded and Harry heard the rustling of trees.

In the night all around him there were snakes. Snakes in his orchard! Harry shuddered, he was in his little dream but he felt drunk. Shaking and unsettled, he looked around. The darkness was seeping in through the trees... invading his orchard. The snakes didn't seem to see him, just kept winding their way through the trees. Four of them whispered their way through the leaves. One wrapped it's way around the roots of the largest tree, biting it's own tail. It's lidless eyes flashed red.

Harry glanced deeper into the wood. One more snake, lying still on the ground. Nailed in place by a wooden stake. Harry looked down at his hand. Another snake was wrapped around his finger. A tiny thin snake with black bands.

_Weird. Profetic._ Harry shook his head. Not again-

"Harry."

Hm... Harry slowly woke.

"Harry wake up so I can tell you how unspeakably foolish you have been."

"Professor Snape..." Harry shook the cobwebs out of his head and opened his eyes. The hospital wing was dark and empty. Snape was standing at the foot of Harry's hospital bed. Wait... Snape had to know! "The ring! I found something out about-"

"I got the message Harry." Snape's face was a blank and angry slate. "Draco understood the significance of your message."

"You need to help Thea then." Harry struggled to rise out of the hospital bed. "You need to help-"

"I already did."

Harry's eye flashed to the bed next to him. Pytea was still lying there but... her heartbeat... it was stronger. It was almost as strong as ever.

"You... you did it?" Harry fell back onto his bed. "You saved her."

"It was a toxin." Snape gestured towards the seer. "Once you made me aware that the ring was not the source of her affliction I began to look further afield. I found a terrible poison. It acted more like a disease than a poison. As virulent as I have ever seen."

"Someone tried to kill her?" Harry found himself staring into shadows to try to see enemies.

"No Harry. I do not believe so." Snape tapped a small bottle he was holding in his hand. "Last year you were in a near constant state of mild toxicity. You have built up... resistances."

"Wait... Are you saying I've been poisoned too?"

"Not any more. I cured you when I cured the Pythea." Snape's eyebrow twitched up. "You were poisoned originally. The poison must have passed to her by some... exchange of fluid."

"When I was bleeding..." Harry cast his mid back. "She kissed my forehead. She was bleeding too."

"Is that the story you're sticking to?"

"So someone tried to kill me." Harry ignored Snape's insinuation and scratched his head. "I'm thinking maybe a group of assassin-mercenaries hired by my arch nemesis?"

"The Lie Gou are the obvious choice."

"Sounds like you have your doubts."

"I do." Snape shook his head. "The poison was not an eastern one, far from it. It was invented in Florence. That does not mean the Lie Gou could not have acquired it but it seems... odd."

"Odd... wonderful. As if we haven't had enough odd these past few weeks." Harry rolled his eyes. "And what you're saying is it's possible there are some other people trying to kill me. Wonderful. Just my bloody luck."

"Oh stop complaining Harry." A weak voice spoke from the other bed. "You wouldn't know what to do with a boring life."

"Thea!" Harry slid out of his sheets and stepped over to the little seer's bed. "Are you alright?"

"I feel terrible Harry." Pythea raised her hand shakily up to his face. "I tried to kill you."

"I poisoned you." Harry shrugged. "Besides, after all the times you've saved my life you can probably try to kill me like five or six more times before I get angry."

"I never saved your life Harry." Pythea smiled weakly. "I just gave you the impetus to help yourself."

"You're being all seerey again. Stop it." Harry chuckled.

"I'm just trying to get you in a good mood." Pythea looked away. "You aren't going to like what I want to do now."

"Try me." Harry tensed.

"I want try again to skry with the ring."

"No."

"Harry we know now it wasn't what made me sick." Pythea protested. Snape moved behind Harry's shoulder, silently backing him up. "We also know that the ring is important to Voldemort. There must be something to find-"

"No!" Harry cut her off. "The thing does nothing but lie and control, just like Voldemort. I'm going to destroy it as soon as possible."

"I agree." Snape nodded. "We can safely assume that it was like the diary. A trap for anyone who tried to follow the dark lord's early like. A deterrent to any curious investigation."

"It doesn't matter what it is." Harry shook his head. "It's a cancer on the world. Whether by Fawkes, some other phoenix or by some other method entirely that thing is toast."

Harry spoke definitely, but he couldn't help but feel a niggling doubt. Like a snake curled around his heart.

"We have to destroy it." Harry repeated, half to himself. "We have to."

"What do you mean they're not flaming?" Harry asked pointedly over the breakfast table.

"I mean they're not." Hermione held out the letter for him to read. "I wrote to the researchers as soon as you told me to but it's too late. The phoenixes have stopped flaming for winter."

"For winter?" Harry rolled his eyes. "What do they care about winter? They're on fire!"

"They're birds as well as magical creatures Harry."

"Wonderful." Harry shuddered. "When do they stop hibernating?"

"Not till spring."

"Great. I have to carry this deadly parcel around for months." Harry hefted his bag on his shoulders. Since the incident the ring had always been with him. In a lead box. He wasn't taking chances. "And until then I've got nothing I can do."

"You could study."

"Nothing _useful_."

"Well you could ask Professor Snape for something else to do." Hermione glanced up at the high table where the potions master was absent. Not unusual these days.

"I know, but I don't know If there's anything to be done." Harry shook his head and gestured to the paper lying discarded on the table between them. "Voldemort seems to be content with random acts of random minor unpleasantness right now. I can't help thinking he's working up to something horrendous."

"Like diagon alley?"

"Or worse." Harry shrugged. "No way to tell."

"Do you think the order has any leads?"

"I think they'd probably tell me." Harry replied honestly. "Snape's been pretty good about keeping me in the loop so far."

"Do you know where he's going now?"

"No." Harry smiled. "Hopefully working."

"Well, until you find something to do," Ginny broke in, walking past them. "You can start turning up to marauder training sessions. You've been missing them since the whole ring thing."

"Pythea was _dying._" Harry replied exasperated.

"So are a lot of people." Ginny replied flatly before moving off. Harry watched her go before turning back to Hermione.

"Her parent's still haven't woken up have they?"

"No." The bushy haired girl shook her head. "They visit them at weekends."

"I should go with them some time."

"Well you've been busy." Hermione said, in a way that indicated that was no excuse.

"Or I could just tie Draco up and leave him in Ginny's bed." Harry continued. "That'd probably cheer her up more."

"Harry-"

"Especially if he was naked."

"Harry!"

"Oh relax." Harry chuckled, "Come on, we really should get to the marauder session. Maybe beating the lot of you around the attic will make me feel better."

Snape slowed as he approached the dark stairwell and began walking down carefully. Some of the steps were almost as smooth as glass. The stair twisted down and down into the rock beneath Malfoy Manor. Much further than any of the basements. Snape placed a light hand on the wall as he proceeded down, his wand the only source of light, his footsteps the only sound.

He rounded the final corner and had to shield his eyes as guttering torches came into view. Stretching out before him was a long corridor of blank iron doors, stained black from rust and long decay. The decay was of no consequence, it wasn't the quality of the construction that kept the prisoners in this place. Snape nodded to the two jailers, members of the order, before turning to the third figure standing before him.

"You're late." Moody growled.

"Yes, I am. I was busy." Snape replied. "Your point?"

"I've had to wait down in the pit for half an hour!"

"Then you arrived fifteen minutes early and cannot blame me for that." Snape strode forward past the old auror. "Let us not delay this any further."

"Right." Moody stomped after him, holding his wand high as the light of the torches faded into the darkness behind them. Once again Snape was enveloped in silence, the cells themselves were soundproof. Moody finally broke the quiet. "You know why I called you out here."

"Another of the prisoners seems ready to break." Snape repeated what he had read in Moody's brief missive that had arrived on his desk before breakfast. "Which one?"

"Don't think it's right." Moody ignored the question, shaking his head roughly. "It's not right. You've got us pussyfooting around these bastards. Offering them books and shorter sentences and even _freedom_ if they help us."

"And you think it is ineffective?"

"I think it's bloody wrong is what it is!" Moody snarled. "These men should all be behind bars for life not waited on hand and foot."

"We need information."

"Then we should be getting out the thumbscrews!" Moody thrust out a hand to stop Snape moving. "You seriously don't have a problem with offering them all this stuff?"

"Offering? No. We can offer them whatever we want. It doesn't mean we will ever give it to them. And so long as they are never given an opportunity to compare notes? I have no problem." Snape reached out and pushed Moody's hand out of his way. "Trust that if I deem it necessary I will have no hesitation in deploying the thumbscrews."

"Oh of that I've got no doubt." Moody's eye looked Snape up and down in a split second before he stomped off down the corridor again. Snape followed him.

"You never told me who it is I am here to see."

"Not one of the proper death eaters." Moody spat. Snape fought the urge to turn up his nose. "One of the stinking criminals you-know-who dragged to his cause."

"That does not mean he is useless to us."

"Captured by Harry." Moody fixed Snape with a stare while still walking. "At Miss Zhao's residence. Last year, you remember."

Snape stiffened. So the man he was about to talk to had been involved in the attack on Natalie's life. There had been a great deal of unpleasantness that night. Natalie had been reluctant to talk about it at length but-

"Does that change things?" Moody broke Snape's thoughts, his voice full of dark insinuation.

"Why would it?" Snape forced himself to reply.

"I can still get the thumbscrews."

"Perhaps later."

Moody came to a stop before a door indistinguishable from the hundreds of other doors.

"His name's Shepherd Kilkenny." Moody put his hand on the door. "Used to be a cursebreaker for Gringots." Moody tapped his wand on the door and Snape heard a bolt slam back. The old auror pushed the door open and allowed Snape inside. The cell within was bare. Bed. Chair. Sanitary facilities. Snape had made sure the cells were as stark as possible to encourage the prisoners to break. Sometimes they would talk just out of boredom. As Snape entered the hunched figure sitting at the foot of the bed straightened.

"Hello Mr Kilkenny." Snape sat down on the hard-backed chair. "I have been informed that you have something to tell me."

"Yeah," The man reached up and scratched behind his ear. "But I got some demands."

"Do you think you are in a position to demand?" Snape was shocked to find his voice was still steady.

"I've got information. Stuff you need to know. But I've heard a lot of 'might' and 'maybe' and 'If your information pans out'." The prisoner hunched. "I want some guarantees."

Snape met Shepherds eyes and gently pushed. A barrier of Occlumency met him. Of course it would be there. There would have been no point in this whole exercise if it hadn't. Snape took a moment to consider his response. He could offer whatever he wanted, but it would not do to seem to offer too much. There was a marginal chance that this man was not a fool.

"So long as your information is true you may have some concessions." Snape replied steadily. "A better quality of sustenance. Books. Perhaps a window. Everything after that is depended on how useful I consider the information you give me is. So I suggest you begin taking steps to convince me."

"I want to get out of here." The man sneered. "I want years off."

"As the Wizengamot no doubt informed you at your trial you have been sentenced to forty years here. I understand the charges were various. Using the dark arts, breaking and entering, attempted murder-" Snape found his throat going hard at the last word and slammed his emotions down behind a wall of emptiness. "And that is in addition to your original sentence for fraud that you never completed."

"Give me something!"

"Give me a reason to give you something."

"I..." Kilkenny opened his mouth to yell something but snapped it shut, bringing himself into check. "I'm not young. I may not live forty years."

"Then it is in your best interest to talk, and talk soon." Snape leant forward. "I am loosing patience."

"I... I'll talk." The prisoner hung his head. "I don't really have a choice do I?"

"No."

"Well..." The man rubbed his arm. "You know I worked for Gringots?"

"I was aware."

"You know that I never really worked above the board. Not just skimming off the top, selling secrets too. People'll pay a lot of money to know that Mr so-and-so has almost emptied his account or that some other guy makes regular payments to someone. Businessmen and the like you know? Checking up on their rivals. Investors..."

"I can see how that information could be useful to some." Snape indicated very clearly with his inflection that he was _not_ one of those some.

"Right, right." Kilkenny nodded. "But see when the dark lord found out what I did he got all excited. Well... not excited exactly. He doesn't really get excited but he does this thing where his eyes flash and he hisses a bit. Sometimes his nostrils flair-"

"Mr Kilkenny-"

"Right, right... anyway. He told me to get in touch with some of the people who still worked at Gringots. People in the same line of work as me."

"Go on." Snape was very careful not to let his interest show.

"He got me to check on some things."

"Specifically."

"The activity on certain vaults."

"_Specifically_."

"Well first he wanted to check up on a vault. Get the records of who had accessed it and when."

"What vault?"

"Sixty three. Deep one."

"Who owns it?"

"Don't know."

"What did the records say?"

"Don't know. Didn't read em."

"You didn't read them?" Snape raised his eyebrows. "An enterprising man like yourself? Always looking for an advantage? Are you trying to tell me you did not even glance at the records before you handed them over?"

"Look I had the dark bloody lord watching my every move!" Kilkenny shuddered. "There's enterprising and then there's just stupid!"

Snape watched the prisoners eyes as he spoke. He could not read his mind but still... Snape had not survived everything he had gone through by being dependent on any one skill. Even without legillimancy he could be reasonably confident as to whether a man was telling the truth. On the other hand, this man had deceived the goblins for years. He would never have survived if he was a bad lier.

"You said you contacted people still at Gringots. What were their name?"

"Well there was only one really..." Kilkenny scratched his head. "Blake Bees, he's in the investment department."

"And he will corroborate your story?"

"Yeah..." Kilkenny twitched.

"What are you not telling me?" Snape asked sharply.

"Goblins found out he lifted the files." Kilkenny slumped. "He's in hiding somewhere. Don't know where."

"Would he know who owned vault sixty three?"

"Well... yeah. He'd have to to get the files."

"Very well." Snape stood. "I will consider this." He turned towards the door.

"Wait!" Kilkenny called out after him. "Don't you want to know about the other thing he asked."

"Other thing?" Snape asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, he asked me to check up on another vault." Kilkenny said desperately, trying to cash in on every scrap of knowledge. "I know who owned this one. Blake told me because he thought it was weird."

"How so?"

"It was the Lestrange vault." Kilkenny spread his hands. "The Lestranges worked for him. If he'd wanted something out of it he could have just got them to go in and get it."

"What did he wish to know?"

"Just who had accessed it. When I told him that no-one, not even a goblin, had been in it since the Lestranges went to prison years ago he seemed... relieved. Well not relieved exactly. He does this thing with his neck-"

"Mr Kilkenny." Snape cut him off. "Was there anything else?"

"Well... no. I just-"

Snape turned silently and rapped twice on the door. Moody opened it and Snape stepped through. As Snape put his hand on the door to swing it closed the prisoner called out shrilly.

"Please help me out of here!" He wrung his hands. "I've done bad things but I'm not a bad person! He looks at you and you have to do what he says or he'll kill you. I had to! Please. He was too much, I was scared! I was-"

Snape swung the iron slab shut and Kilkenny pathetic cries were shut off suddenly. Snape and Moody were left alone in the darkness. It was a long time before Snape spoke.

"Get him some books." Snape fought bile rising in his gut. "And better food."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said." Snape spun and swept off down the corridor towards the stairs. He had a great deal to think about. With his mind occupied his fingers twitched towards the square patch of scar on his arm.


	52. Stone and the Scorpion: 7

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 7: Information

Snape tapped his fingers on the hard oak surface of his desk. There was something in what Kilkenny had told him, something important. But his mind could not get a grip on it. He could see that there was something there, he could see the shape of it in the darkness but it was like he was missing something.

Should he have given the prisoner what he wanted?

It did not matter now. Snape shook his head. What he needed to think about now was how to act on the information he had been given. He needed to sort through the darkness and find the truth. Snape's eyes flickered to a locked chest in the corner of his office. Within was locked Dumbledore's pensive, the old man's gift to him. Snape didn't know why, it had been empty when he received it, and the two of them had not been on the best of terms when the old wizard died.

Perhaps he had simply written him into his will years ago and never changed it. Snape walked slowly over to the chest and clicked the latches open. He levitated the heavy bowl over to stand on his desk and stepped back. He was about to lift his wand to his temple when a thought faded into his mind like a ghost.

It was an image, some imagined thing. Dumbledore sitting in his office in the dark, the only light the faint silver glow of memories. Alone.

Snape lowered his wand.

"Was this part of the reason?" Snape murmured. "You took no council but your own. Your own memories to guide you. Living in the past."

Another image faded into his mind. Dumbledore leaning over the silver surface gazing into a face in the mirror surface. A girls face, with the same deep eyes as the old man's.

"I suppose it would be more difficult to let go of guilt..." Snape conceded. "When the memory is so close. He could walk with his sister every day. He should not have... but he could have."

But even as he said it Snape realized that that would not be the memory Dumbledore would relive. It would be the moment of her death. Not knowing who had really fired the spell that killed her... He would have relived it again and again, trying to find out. Living in guilt. Or _wallowing_ in it.

_Pathetic._

Snape couldn't stop himself from thinking it. Even now he could find only token sympathy for the old fool. But the one thing he knew with an iron certainty was that he could never let himself become like him. He had to take council other than his own. Reliving the encounter would tell him nothing he did not already know, allowing someone else to see it might.

His thoughts instantly turned to Natalie, but he had already sent her on assignment. Analysing a recent attack site. He could call her back but... Who else? Minerva was an obvious choice, but her mind worked too similarly to his own. She would have no insights he himself had not already had. Michelson? No. As much as Snape had come to trust the man for his fighting talent subtlety was not his strong suit. So perhaps... well he had promised to keep him updated.

Snape summoned his patronus and whispered a message too it before allowing it to float off through a wall. He did not have to wait long, after just a minute or so there was a knock on the door.

"Come in Harry." The door swung open and the student stepped inside. He appeared to have just run a marathon. "You have been training?"

"How _did_ you guess?" Harry walked over to the desk. Snape deliberately did not mention how much the boy was limping. "What did you call me for? The message was kind of cryptic."

"Here." Snape drew his wand to his temple. "It will be simpler if you see for yourself." He drew the memory out of his head and let it fall softly into the pensive. "Do you know what this is?"

"A memory." Harry shifted around so that he could look down into it. He leant forward, then hesitated. "Do you want to go first?"

"I will not be coming. I do not wish to bias your interpretation." Snape motioned Harry to proceed. The boy nodded and dipped his head into the bowl. His body went slack and Snape knew that at that moment Harry was seeing dark stairs.

He waited several minutes, tapping his desk in impatience before Harry lifted his face from the silver liquid.

"When did this happen?" Was the first thing the boy said.

"Just now." Snape scooped up the memory and fed it back into his mind. He wanted the knowledge fresh. "I would like to hear your interpretation."

"Why?" Harry crooked an eyebrow.

"Because it may be different from mine."

"But why me?"

"Just tell me what you saw Pott-" Snape bit off the end of that sentence and licked his lips. He tried again. "I have been thinking hard on these events, very hard, and I have... met, shall we say... cognitive blocks. I need fresh eyes. Yours have usually been good."

"The magic eye didn't work in the memory."

"That is not what I meant." Snape heard iritation re-enter his voice.

"Right, right..." Harry carefully dropped back into a chair, once again sparing his injured leg. "Well... clearly Voldemort was after two separate things... It sounded like the first thing was... was something he wanted to get. The thing in vault sixty-three. It belonged to someone else and he was looking for it, or wanted to see, or something."

Snape was about to nod, but thought better of it. Better to get an unbiased view even though Harry's thoughts mirrored his own.

"So that was something he wanted to get. The other thing..." Harry scratched his head. "If he had wanted something out of the vault he would have just sent a Lestrange down to get it. It sounds like he was just checking no-one had been in while he was away. Like he was checking up on it. Which means that there's something in there he wants kept safe."

Snape knew he had called the right person.

"I remember..." Harry's brow creased. "I remember last year... right at the start. The order meeting I listened in on. Didn't you say the dark lord had you experimenting with polyjuice potion so it would work with non-humans? Could the goblins have been the target?"

Snape schooled his face with an effort of will. He had not made that connection.

"And that was about the time Barty Crouch vanished into thin air." Harry put forward. "And his speciality is sneaking, disguises... Am I making any sense?"

"So what you are saying." Snape said slowly. "Is that the dark lord guessed, or knew, the location of an item, questioned a former cursebreaker to be sure and sent his best spy in to acquire it. Is that what you are saying?"

"Yes?" Harry said hesitantly. "But wait... that doesn't make any sense. Barty Crouch was missing for about a year. If he tried to break in wouldn't he either manage it quickly or fail quickly? Not hang around for months."

"It would depend." Snape said thoughtfully. "If he wished to steal the item _without anyone realising it was gone_. Then that would require preparation... research... It might well take time."

"He would have to get close." Harry nodded. "Probably get himself hired on to the Gringots staff. He certainly has the skills to be a cursebreaker."

"The goblins check their employees for disguises."

"They check for _magical_ disguises." Harry smiled. "What are the two most salient features of Crouch? That everyone remembers? His blond hair and the fact that he looks very young for his age. If he dyed his hair and grew a beard he could probably go unnoticed without any magical help whatsoever."

"Such a person would be memorable." Snape could feel the pieces clicking into place in his mind. "I wonder if William Weasley recalls such an individual."

"Who?"

"_Bill_ Weasley."

"Ah!"

"If we could find what Crouch took we might be able to guess the dark lords plans." Snape stood. "Thank you Harry. Your insights were most helpful. I will inform you if Weasley recalls anything."

"Right, you do that." Harry grinned evilly. "I'll look for a rat in his bolthole."

"A... rat?"

"Mr Blake Bees, the informant in Gringots. The one in hiding." Harry tapped his temple knowingly. "If he was in the business someone at the Tarot may know how to get in contact with him. He can tell us who's vault it was, and maybe more."

"Take backup." The words dropped from Snape's mouth before his mind had even formulated them. "Do not go to that place alone."

"For god's sake!" Harry threw his hands up. "I keep telling people this, the Tarot isn't dangerous. The people there might coldly order a hit on you but they're not going to smash a bottle against the table and do the job themselves."

"Even so." Snape raised a hand to stop Harry from commenting further. "As we have seen today, four eyes see more than two."

"Not more than my eyes-"

"Take someone Harry." Snape allowed the tone of command to enter his voice. "A marauder or an order member, I do not care. But you will take someone."

Harry's eye twitched and he opened his mouth as if to comment again, then shut it suddenly. He nodded.

"Fine. Understood." Harry made a mocking bow. "I hear and obey oh _glorious_ leader."

"One other small matter." Snape drew his wand. "If something goes wrong you will need a way out."

"I keep telling you-"

"Not just now Harry, in other situations as well." Snape raised his wand to Harry's face. "Hold quite still."

"Is this going to hurt?" Harry asked quickly.

"I have no idea." Snape smiled, and cast the spell.

"Harry you are well aware that this is not what Snape meant." Pythea raised an eyebrow as Harry pointed to a large pub with a star on it's sign. "He told you to bring backup."

"He told me he didn't care who." Harry pointed out.

"Harry I can't fight."

"I don't need you to." Harry led the seer towards the door. "This place is as safe as Hogwarts. Safer probably. The people who drink here are sticklers for propriety though. I needed someone who wouldn't make a scene, someone who could do subtlety. Do any of the marauders fit that bill as well as you? Draco maybe, but it was full moon last night."

"Padma, Hermione, Ginerva..."

"Ginny's grown less predictable." Harry shook his head. "Padma's an outside possible but really it had to be you. This whole thing is about gathering information and who better to help than a seer. I need you to watch people's eyes."

"I can't read minds any more Harry."

"And yet you still know what people are thinking half the time." Harry reached the door and stopped, his hand raised. "Please Thea, come in with me."

"Harry..." Pythea took a deep breath. "Fine."

Harry smiled and pushed the door open. Within the place looked like any other pub in a coastal town. There was a roaring fire in the grate and scenes on the walls of fish and fish related activities. The low murmur of conversation filled the air but no-one looked up as he entered. They had their own cares mainly. Harry led the was confidently to the bar.

_Order whatever you want._

Harry flashed into Pythea's mind before turning to the barmen and ordering his own drink. After Harry had handed over his money he led them to a table near the fire and slid a coaster under the seer's wine.

"Drinks are messages here." Harry explained. "If it's on a coaster, that means the only message is that you were thirsty."

"I see." Pythea replied, taking a sip of drink and carefully placing the glass back on the mat. "And what does yours mean?"

"Well, it's golden and expensive..." Harry pored the whiskey into his class. "What do you think?"

"Was it necessary to buy such an expensive bottle?"

"It never hurts here to show you have money."

"And why Irish?"

"Well," Harry grinned. "Got to support my homeland don't I?"

"So what do we do now?" Pythea glanced around, still speaking quietly. "Simply wait for someone to notice?"

"That's now it works." Harry shrugged. He raised his glass to his lips but did not drink any. It would definitely not do to lose focus here. He tried not to even breath in any of the fumes. "Besides, it's a nice place to spend the afternoon." Harry gestured out the window at the coast below. The winter winds were whipping the waves to peaks before crashing them against the beach. Out further a few boats were still visible, bobbing up and down.

"I suppose it is not so bad." Pythea smiled. "This place is quite pleasant. I did not expect it to be so..."

"Homely?"

"Peaceful." Pythea glanced around. "That man has absinthe. What does that mean?"

"Can't remember..." Harry scratched his head. "It either means he's selling heroin or buying human organs. Can't remember which."

"And you say this place is safe?" Pythea quirked an eyebrow.

"I said safe. I didn't say _nice_."

Pythea shook her head and chuckled, then grew quiet as a man approached their table.

_Time to go to work._

Harry smiled.

"This is the man we are looking for." Snape slid a picture of Crouch over the table towards the ginger haired young man at the other end.

"He doesn't look like anyone I know." Bill Weasley shook his head tiredly. "Look I know what Barty crouch looks like, all the order do. If I had seen him I would have-"

"He would have concealed his identity." Snape waved his hand over the photo and the face grew a short beard. "Or this?" The photo's hair went black. "Look at the eyes. They will not have changed."

"Look if I had seen him I would kn-" Bill froze suddenly. "Can you make him bald? Keep the beard."

Snape made the changes.

"And brownish beard. Make it bushier." Bill leant over the photo. "I... I do remember him."

"Do you." Snape kept his voice calm as the pieces fell together. "When?"

"Only a few times... He was working in a different department."

"Working on what?"

"I don't know." Bill rubbed his forehead. "They don't tell us what other people are working on."

"How long was he there?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him recently."

"Who worked with him?"

"I don't know."

"Find out." Snape ordered flatly.

"I can't." Bill shook his head. "The goblins are getting rid of humans left, right and centre. They're looking for an excuse. And with mum and dad still in hospital I can't-"

"This could be _very_ important." Snape snapped. "Are you a member of the order or not?"

"Yes but-"

"Then find out where he worked, what he worked on and who he worked with." Snape leant forward. "And find out who owned vault sixty three."

"I could get fired!"

"You could be killed." Snape replied coldly. "The goblins tend to be very direct about threats to their gold. So I suggest you find out _carefully_."

"Is this the place?" Harry looked up at the dingy and broken apartment building.

"This is the address the man mentioned." Pythea glanced down at the litter strewn street. Her expression was... not impressed.

"Certainly something going on up there." Harry squinted up. "The top floor's all fuzzy." Harry blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyeball on his sleeve before peering up again. "Nope, can't see anything. You see anything?"

"I'll try..." Pythea closed her eyes. "Could you step away please?"

"What?"

"Just take a few steps away please Harry." Pythea was staring, close eyed, at the sky. "Just trust me."

Harry stepped back, frowning. For a few moments the seer stood there, staring up at the sky. Then she nodded.

"There is someone up there."

"Well that's promising." Harry drew his wand. "You apparate back to Hogwarts I'll check it out."

"No."

"Damn."

"You must have known I was going to say that."

"I thought you were going to be a bit more abstract. Like 'I'll never abandon you.' or 'Damn you Harry you don't have to go it alone!'"

"I'm thought the effect would be greater if I was less profound."

"Well, we should get on with it then." Harry stepped off the pavement towards the building. "Stay behind me and warn me if your crazy sixth sense picks up anything. If the first five do as well. And if he attacks or something just shield and run."

"No."

"Damn."

Harry pushed the front door open. It creaked a little. The inside was even more decrepit and covered in graffiti. Harry's eye flickered up the building. It wasn't totally empty, one man sleeping on the second floor, two children apparently home alone on the next floor up, a cat... Then the blankness of the top floor. Harry kept his eye trained on the top floor as the two of them climbed up and up. As they reached the top floor Harry slowed to a crawl.

The door was already open.

"Seer senses seeing anything?"

"No." Pythea was hanging back a few steps. "Are yours?"

"No..." Harry paused and turned, smiling. "This is a_ fun_ first date isn't it?"

"Harry this is _hardly the time_!"

"Fine." Harry shrugged and turned back. "Back to seriousness." Harry silenced the door and disillusioned both himself and Pythea. In the blue light of his eye he saw the little seer flick out the marauder glasses. He pushed the door open and edged into the dingy little flat. The instant he got through the door his eye shut down, plunging him into uncomfortable darkness. After over a year of super powered sight having it ripped away felt horrifically claustrophobic.

"Pythea stay close I can't see you any more." Harry whispered. A hand brushed lightly against the back of his neck. "God I hope it's you doing that."

Harry glanced into a dark and empty closet before sliding forward. _Blood_. Harry sniffed again, definitely blood. Harry put his hand against the door to the bedroom and pushed it open slowly. A body lay sprawled on the floor, blood seeping into the carpet, neck slashed ear to ear. Blake Bees, the Gringots informant. They were too late. Harry aimed his wand and whispered a charm. A tiny red glow was visible for a moment above the dead man. Still warm.

A tiny tap came on the back of Harry's neck and a barely heard voice said...

"Remember, I saw life up here."

Harry gritted his teeth. He _had_ remembered. Harry felt blind without his eye. Lacking in depth perception certainly. Life up here didn't necessarily mean the murderer was still here. It could have just been the victim slowly and excruciatingly bleeding out.

"Thea leave now."

"Harry-"

"This time I'm se-" A ripple of air was the only warning Harry got. He dropped to the floor as the knife flashed over his head. In a splinter of a second he spun. "_Depulso!_" Harry aimed the spell behind him, a sharp scream sounded and Pythea was thrown back through the open door. A second spell slammed the door shut but Harry was already rolling to his feet with his wand outstretched.

"_Augmenta._" The stream of water splashed against the invisible assassin, outlining him in droplets. "_Ferio!_" The Lie Gou ducked and launched forward, blade flashing for Harry's neck.

Harry knocked it aside desperately but the silent killer was on him, forcing him to the floor with inhuman strength. Harry was using all his strength to keep the blade from his throat, his other arm pinned, fingers curling around his wrist. He couldn't hold on, the water made it too slippery. Closer and closer.

Harry let his legs fold and heard his opponent grunt as the weight hit his arms. Harry jabbed his head forward and hit something, he kicked out and snapped the legs out from under the silent killer. A twanging thunk sounded right next to his head and Harry saw a knife appear from nowhere, dropped from numb fingers. Harry was on it like a flash and stabbed forward. Red blood fountained from invisible flesh. The fingers around his arm tightened like a vice... then finally released.

Before Harry's eyes the Lie Gou assassin flashed into view, falling to the floor. The spell fading as the life ebbed out of it's caster. The door burst open.

"Harry how dare y-" Pythea's eyes flashed to Harry, on the floor and covered in blood. Her eyes went wide.

"I'm fine. It's his." Harry said breathlessly.

"Harry is he... is he dead." Pythea still hadn't moved from the doorway.

"Yeah." The knife fell slowly from Harry's fingers. "He is."

"He was trying to kill you."

"They always are." Harry slowly pushed himself to his feet and took a breath. Blood filled his nose. "We need the order here. They should go over the place... maybe find something." Harry's leg was buckling under him and his eye cast around for him walking stick. It was lying right in the middle of the pool of blood. He let it be.

"Harry... you're not aright." A normal person would have said '_are you aright_', but they would have been foolish to do it.

"I'll be fine, later. It's just... this is one of those times I'd rather be Jack." Harry laughed humourlessly and limped over to the door.

An hour later and Harry was sitting on the cold steps in a courtyard at Hogwarts. Back at the flat a police barrier had been set up and aurors dressed as coppers were trying to keep people out. Inside more aurors would be peering around and poking things. Harry had left, he had wanted to stay so he knew what was happening, but Shacklebolt had turned up and Harry hadn't felt like explaining everything again. He had slipped off into the dark.

"You should not have brought the seer." Snape's voice did not catch Harry by surprise. Neither did his words or the stern tone.

"I know. It was a mistake." Harry nodded, not looking as the professor approached. "I could have got her killed."

"I told you to bring competent backup."

"And you were right." Harry's voice was deadened. "Can we please move on."

"As you wish." Snape conjured a chair and sat down opposite Harry. He looked tired. Harry was sure he himself looked worse.

"They find anything up there?"

"No, and at this point I do not expect they will." Only someone who knew Snape would have detected the frustration in his voice. "There were signs that certain documents had been burnt just before you arrived here, whether by the victim or his killer it matters little. There is nothing here."

"Tell me your investigation turned up something." Harry glanced up at Snape, not daring to hope. Snape shook his head.

"Damnit..." Harry dropped his head to his hands. "Dead end then. Unless we ask the goblins directly. Or we could get Kingsley to ask them-"

"No." Snape shook his head. "I believe our best hope is to allow William Weasley to acquire the documents we need. If we petition the goblins directly at the same time they will certainly become suspicious."

"So we do what? Wait and hope that Bill succeeds?" Harry snorted. "What do we do in the mean time? Just sit on our hands?"

"I have _many_ things to do." Snape said dryly. "As for you... I suggest you try to have a Merry Christmas."

"Ha!" Harry laughed mirthlessly. "That's not going to happen-" Harry's words were cut off as a crossbow bolt thudded into his back.


	53. Stone and the Scorpion: 8

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 8: Loss of Control

Harry spun like a top and fired madly at the white figure on the roof. It ducked like a ghost but Harry could still see him dashing away. Ignoring Snape's cries Harry shot a hook at the tiles and was jerked off his feet, clattering onto the tiles. His leg screamed in pain as Harry scrambled to the peak of the roof. The white figure was far away, Harry knew he wouldn't be able to catch him. Harry stabbed his wand forward and fired a curse. The figure shielded easily without even stopping. Harry spun his wand like and felt the tiles beneath his jump. He tried to stay on top of them as they hovered and spun forwards. He shut his eyes and used only the magic one, his real eye couldn't follow fast enough. The figure was already too far away, too fast. Harry yelled,

"_Tempesto!_" The wind smashed into his side and threw him through the air, barely in control, before thudding to the grass and rolling. Everything hurt. Harry rolled to his feet and stumbled towards the forest. He could see the figure belting through the trees. Harry dashed towards the dark fo-

DANGER!

Harry's eye caught a glimpse too late. Harry skidded on the leaves as four arrows flashed above his head. He scrambled backwards back onto the grass and stopped, wand outstretched and breathing heavily.

Through the dark trees, in the cold light of his eye, Harry could see his assassin standing out of view. Dotted all around were centaurs, each one with a arrow notched to his bow. They were just waiting for him to cross the line back into the wood. Harry glanced at one of the arrows embedded in the ground, they wanted to kill him. The centaurs wouldn't pass the line, apparently the strange, white clad assassin had no such compunction.

Harry stood up and watched as the centaurs and their strange friend turned and slowly retreat into the wood.

"Harry!"

Harry turned and saw Snape hurrying toward him.

"He got away." Harry staggered forward, limping. "It wasn't one of the Lie Gou. I could see his face he was European... had a scar-"

"Harry you have an arrow in you." Snape said, surprisingly calmly.

"What? Oh..." Harry looked over his shoulder "That's not an arrow, it's a crossbow bolt. Common mistake."

"Harry do not expect me to be surprised by the fact that you're alive." Snape crossed his arms.

"Spoilsport." Harry tugged the bolt out. It's point was crushed and blunted. "It's the coat. It's got enough charms to stop a tank."

"Give me the arrow."

"Bolt."

"Cease this Harry."

"Fine." Harry rolled his eyes and tossed the arrow to his teacher. "Who do you think it was?"

"How could I possibly know that Harry." Snape said sharply. "In a usual situation I am sure the aurors would ask if you had any enemies however-"

"Futile."

"Correct."

"You think it was the centaurs?" Harry glanced back into the woods. There was nothing to be seen now, not a thing was moving. "Do you think they hired someone to kill me?"

"Why would they wish to do that?" Snape's eyes narrowed.

"I... Last time I met centaurs they said I was an abomination." Harry said hesitantly. "They said they'd kill me if I ever went into the forest again."

"And you..."

"Went into the forest again."

"I am not remotely surprised."

"But why would they wait this long to try something?" Harry scratched his head. "Doesn't add up."

"The ministry has means of contacting the centaur elders." Snape said quietly, staring into the dark forest. "I will try to make contact."

"Carefully."

"Yes, carefully."

"Definitely."

"Have a good christmas Harry. Keep training." Ginny half smiled, faintly at Harry before turning and trudging away from the Hogwarts gates through the snow. Hunched over with her hands in her pockets, the smile wouldn't have fooled most people so it certainly didn't fool Harry.. He thought about calling after her but instead shook his head and turned to Ron and the twins, who had come to pick the school age Weasleys up.

"Try to make sure she smiles at least once a day."

"We'll try Harry." Fred sighed. "No promises."

"And if I signal, come running." Harry held up an 'M' badge. The twins knew what he meant, they had created the charm. It was like the dark marks just a little less... perminant. Every marauder had one and they could bring them directly to Harry wherever he was. "We'll... not running... Teleporting. But you get the idea."

"Aye aye, sir." Fred saluted comedically.

They turned to leave and Harry trudged back towards the castle. Draco was standing in the doorway, leaning against a pillar. His face was grey and lined, obviously last night's moon hadn't been kind to him. Harry wasn't in a mood to be sympathetic.

"You could at least show here some human sympathy." Harry said flatly.

"And what would that do?" Draco growled. "It would just give her hope for something that can't ever happen."

"Why the hell not?"

"Shut up Potter. You don't understand."

"Oh _god_ that again."

"You can't ever understand!" Draco shoved Harry away roughly.

"I understand that you're giving the cold shoulder to a girl who's parents are still being fed on drips." Harry said harshly. He'd tried everything else, maybe bluntness would get through Draco's thick skull.

"I don't want to hurt her."

"You _are_ hurting her!" Harry pointed away at the distant figure, trudging through the snow a distance away from her brothers.

"I'm a werewolf." Draco muttered. "I can't do... I can't have a girlfriend."

"Lupin apparently thinks differently."

"Well that's bloody _Lupin's_ choice isn't it!" Draco spun and fixed Harry with an angry glare. "Just shut up about things you don't understand Potter."

"I understand enough to know that the werewolf thing is just an excuse." Harry spat back. Draco's eyes flashed wide, the words biting deep. Harry pressed on. "So what you're effectively doing _Draco_, making Ginny miserable for no good reason and then claiming it's because you're being noble. Like you're taking the high ground when really all you're doing is-"

"Shut up." Draco's wand was in his hand somehow. "Just shut up Harry. Shut up."

"Fine." Harry held his hands up. "Whatever. I can see I'm not going to get a straight answer out of the twisted lump of conflicting reasoning, self hatred and false sacrifice shaped by the twin forces of teenage arrogance and lust you call your brain. Come on, we've got a little project for this holiday season. It'll be fun."

"Oh really? And what is this project?" Draco asked sharply.

"Simple, the ring." Harry patted his bag. "I don't buy that phoenix flame is the only way to destroy the thing. Got to be something else that can do the job, we're going to find it."

"So essentially..." Draco narrowed his eyes. "You want to research the most in-sainly destructive spells known to wizard-kind."

"Yes." Harry smiled. "Told you it'd be fun."

In the end they only found two things that could match the power of phoenix flame, and neither of them were pleasant. One of them at least seemed easy to aquire, at least at first...

"What do you mean '_You burnt it_'?" Harry asked shrilly.

"Burnt it years ago." Markus Michelson shrugged. "The day after you killed it. Went back down into the chamber of secrets and torched the thing. Nothing left but ashes and I scattered them pretty widely."

"You... you torched the bassilisk..." Harry sighed. "You didn't happen to keep a tooth as... as like a keepsake or something?"

"The teeth and the venom are the most dangerous part, whole reason I got rid of the thing." Michelson's brow furrowed. "Why?"

Harry told him. Michelson cursed and punched the wall.

"So..." Harry said, after leaving the defence professor's office. "That leaves the other option."

"I do not want to use the other option." Draco remarked darkly.

"You know the incantation."

"It's not a matter of knowing." Draco shook his head. "This is _fiendfyre_ we're talking about. It grows out of control, it can consume it's caster and everything around him."

"Hence why we need to go somewhere we're there's nothing to consume." Harry said simply. "I know _fiendfyre's_ dangerous but if we go somewhere deserted we can't hurt anyone."

"Except ourselves."

"True, but you're suicidal on account of being a werewolf and I'm crazy enough not to care. What have we got to lose?"

"Good point." Draco cracked a wry smile. "Do you have a place that will be deserted enough?"

"I have just the place in mind." Harry nodded. "We'll get Morfin to take us there. Don't want to put Pythea in danger again."

"Does Morfin know the place well enough to apparate to it?"

"Oh yes..." Harry grinned again, this time less pleasantly. "He lived there most of his life."

The waves crashed harshly against the cliffs of Azkaban island, sending up sheets of spray. The wind was bitingly cold, whistling through the ruins of the prison with terrifying speed. Harry stood with his face into the wind and breathed in the majesty of it, better able to appreciate the power of nature when the charms worked into his coat kept him pleasantly warm.

"Where shall we do this?" Draco had to raise his voice against the wind. Harry had cast warming charms on both him and Morfin but they still had to contend with the sheer force of the gale.

"Suppose it doesn't really matter." Harry shrugged and pointed to what looked like the remains of a courtyard. "Over there I guess." Harry turned to Morfin. "Oh, and make sure none of Smokey's friends come near here OK? Wouldn't want them getting hurt."

"Smokey's friends?" Draco asked.

"Invisible, magical, poisonous snakes." Harry smiled. "They live on this island. Morfin told me."

"The ministry doesn't know about them."

"That would be because they're A: Invisible. B: Solely indigenous to an island at the arse end of nowhere and C: Fed mostly on prisoners the dementors had already killed. Though I suppose they probably eat seagulls now." Harry came to a stop in the middle of the courtyard and reached back into his bag. He took out the package the ring was in and put it on the ground without bothering to unwrap it. No call touching it more than was necessary.

"Do you have the backup plan?" A hint of nervousness had entered Draco's voice. Harry didn't answer but instead drew two broomsticks out of his bag. He handed one to Morfin and the got on the other himself. Each of them grabbed one of Draco's shoulder's.

"Why am I trusting my safety to your flying ability." Draco shuddered.

"I may not be a great flyer Draco but I can go straight up." Harry rolled his eyes. "Quit stalling and torch the thing already. If this doesn't work we'll try dropping it in a volcano."

"Don't rush me Harry." Draco grated. "You're not the one channelling hellish flame through your fingernails."

"I did offer to-"

"Don't even say it." Draco broke in. "You're not... _focussed_ enough to keep this power in check."

"I_ do_ know Legilimancy." Harry said indignantly. "And occlumency. And I can juggle knives, don't tell me that doesn't need focus."

"Get on with it..." Morfin hissed darkly, his eyes flickering back and forth. Being back on the island was perhaps effecting him a bit more than he was letting on.

"Aright..." Draco gritted his teeth and raised his arms. He closed his eyes and began to chant, a red glow rising from his hands. The air was growing warmer, sparking with energy. Harry gripped his friend's arm harder. His eye was picking up strange shadows out of the air, things with strange, sharp, silhouettes. Spinning like a a whirlpool, settling into Draco's hands, draining in. Each time one of them touched the shaking Slytherin's hands the heat grew and the air sparked.

"Draco..." Harry started. "Maybe we shouldn't-"

"Now!" Draco's eyes flashed open and the courtyard filled with blood red flame. Both of Harry's eyes were blinded by the sudden explosion of light and magic, he tried to shield his eyes but it wasn't any good.

"Draco! You'll have to tell me if it goes out of control I can't see!" Harry could see the outline of the stream of energy flowing out of his friend's hands. It shifted and moved and seemed to be trying to break free. For a moment the wing of an eagle formed out of the flame, Draco seemed to tense and the wing vanished. A horses head exploded out a moment later and Draco again squashed it down.

"Draco..."

"I've got it." The horses head reared up again, it's eyes wide, and tried to leap at the three wizards. Draco yelled in pain and it was subsumed again into the stream of flame.

"Draco-"

"I've GOT IT!"

"You don't!"

"I've got it!"

An elephant breached out of the nowhere and charged towards them. Harry whipped his wand out and blew the flaming creation into nothing. More creatures began flashing out of the flame, more and more. Harry swore and yelled,

"UP! We're leaving!"

Harry jerked the broom under him up, it rose jerkily. Harry kicked it and it flew a little faster. Something with claws jumped at him and Harry flashed a flame-freezing charm at it before remembering it didn't work of fiendfyre and having to blow it up. Fragments of the beast peppered him with burns and he yelled in pain. The broom shot up and the air slowly grew colder. Harry's arm ached and he looked over to see Draco hanging between him and Morfin.

"You aright mate?" Harry tried to yell but his words were carried away by the roaring flame. Red droplets of fiendfyre were still dripping from the werewolves fingers, but they were petering out. Slowly. Harry heaved upwards and (minus a hideous wobble when the broom tried to go it's own way) dragged Malfoy up onto his broom. Harry waved Morfin back and hovered away himself, keeping a death grip on the handle of the broomstick.

As they got further away Harry could truly see the devastation the fire was reaping. Black rock was giving way to flame out from the courtyard. The roaring maelstrom of creatures was pooling out like some sort of flaming mould.

Harry cursed, it would be easily visible from the mainland. That could cause unhelpful questions. Harry drew his wand and thought for a moment... there was no way he could vanish the island, or make an illusion to cover it, which meant going for something more basic.

"_Nebulosus_." Harry dipped his wand down and allowed a thick mist to drain out. He felt the broom move underneath him and panicked for a moment before realising that Draco was doing it, moving him into a better position.

Harry slowly built up a wall of mist between the island and the mainland. When he was finished the fire was still burning strong and stretching out to cover a good quarter of the prison isle. They had to wait over an hour, hovering in the Atlantic winds before the last of it died out. Harry let Draco take the broom down slowly and slipped off.

"Ow! Ow! Argh!" Harry shot back into the air and grabbed back onto the broom. Wincing as his feet slowly cooled from burning to blistering.

"Harry you're an idiot."

"Shut up." Harry muttered a cooling charm at the floor and stepped back down. The heat had been rendered bearable. But only just. With frequent charms to cool his path Harry made his way to the charred ruins of the courtyard and peered at the floor. His wand made whispers of wind to brush away the glowing embers and Harry saw a little glint of light. The stone of the ring had been burnt away but the gold had simply melted, covering the stone with a golden sheen. Harry bent down and hesitantly laid his hand on the shining metal.

"Anybody in there?"

Harry projected the thought down. He waited a few moments but nothing came back. Harry shrugged and pointed his wand at the pavement. With a grating moan the stone came free. Harry levitated it into his bag.

"You're taking it with us?" Draco called out incredulously from his perch high above.

"I want to make sure." Harry shrugged. "Snape can-" But he was cut off as a flash of light lit up the night sky and a body fell from the air with a thud. Morfin sprawled on the ground, unmoving. Harry rushed over to him but even before he did there was another flash and Draco tumbled out of the sky like a dead bird.

Harry's wand was already in his hand, his eye scanning helplessly for an enemy, a clue, ANYTHING! But there was nothing, for all he could see they were alone. The only sound was the slow cooling of the rock.

"Who are you?" Harry called out. "Voldemort?"

"No."

Harry spun but he was too slow, the stunner caught him in the chest. He just had time to see Sasori's mocking eyes before the darkness closed in.

"You brought him in alive?"

Harry was familiar enough with unconsciousness to know how it usually went.

"I thought it was prudent. They were doing something rather strange."

First you could only hear the voices.

"And what was that pray?"

It was good to stretch this part out as long as possible. You were still mostly knocked out so people generally didn't notice you were listening.

"They went there to destroy something. The Malfoy boy called fiendfyre but was unable to control it."

"Foolish children. Playing with dangerous toys."

Ah. Now that voice Harry recognised. They took me to Voldemort. Harry's gut clenched and he slipped into full consciousness. He was lying on a cold stone floor, but smooth. Maybe marble? No, not that smooth. Harry realized that with his eyes shut he was completely blind. There was also a nauseating empty feeling in his eye socket. Harry cursed silently. His magic eye was gone. Harry could feel some sort of bond around his wrists. He couldn't feel a knot, or a lock. Maybe if he-

"Mr Potter I know you are awake." The voice of Voldemort cut through the dark. "We've been through this many times before do not think you can deceive me." Harry snorted and flicked his eyelids open.

"Just like old times eh Tommy?" Harry levered himself up onto his knees. Voldemort was standing just a few steps away, looking faintly amused. His skin was perhaps a touch lighter than before, even a little pinker. He even almost had a nose. He looked... humaner. He also had a glaring scar across his throat, red and raw and jagged. Harry allowed himself a smile. At least he had left an impression.

Harry glanced around, they were is a... a laboratory? That was what it looked like. Some kind of mad scientist's lair. All around were tables of bottles and arcane, weird items. The table behind Voldemort looked like it had been cleared in a hurry and in the empty space... Harry's own eye stared back at him, rocking listlessly. The golden flagstone was there too, and a few other interesting (illegal) items. Harry hissed as he breathed in. His bag was supposed to only release those items to him. Clearly that barrier had not been a barrier to Voldemort. Or perhaps it had been Sasori, standing quietly near the far wall.

"Seen everything you need Harry?"

"One more minute." Harry squinted behind the tables and almost gasped. Back near the wall there was an arch of black metal, thick around as a person and pulling the shadows in towards it. Hanging from the dark gateway... a fluttering curtain. Harry found himself breathing heavily. That was the veil... Or a veil. Not the same as the one in the department of mysteries, that one was made of stone. So what the hell was-

"Your minute is up Harry."

"Just give me a little more time. Need to set the scene." Harry glanced behind him. Draco and Morfin were sprawled on the floor behind him. Harry could see their chests going up and down so he assumed they were still alive. Behind them three Lie Gou were guarding the door. In a huddled mass a group of dead men stood, silent beside them. Their rotting flesh reaching Harry's nostrils and making him gag. In the front of the group was a face Harry recognised. It was not a happy face, or a happy memory.

"Greyback." Harry turned back to Voldemort. "I guess that explains why the werewolves are following you again. Did you have to stitch his head back on?"

"Nothing so crude. But in principal... yes."

Harry tried desperately to think of some way out of this room. He had nothing. _Why the hell was there a veil here?_ He needed to get out. Harry could hear Draco stirring behind him. Or was it Morfin? Damn it he wanted his eye back! How did people manage to only see in one direction?

"So..." Harry looked Voldemort in the eye. "Do we do our regular dance? You torture me for fun, I insult you, you get angry, I escape-"

"Sadly not." Voldemort stepped forward. "I really should thank you Harry. Battling with you across these years, and especially last year, has taught me something I never wished to learn. That I am shockingly vulnerable. Oh yes... yes. It is true. Thanks to you I know that, however powerful I am, whatever knowledge I gain... all it takes is a boy with a knife and a lucky strike... and I am as weak as a newborn baby again. It is so very unfair."

"Life's not fair." Harry growled. "Death even less so."

"Oh I know that now." Voldemort nodded. "I know that I an not invulnerable. I look back on my life and realise a great many of my decisions were foolish. I have learnt. And for that I thank you. I am not foolish any more."

_Yeah right_. Harry tried not to roll his eye. If you're not foolish anymore why aren't I dead? Harry chuckled to himself then froze. Wait, Voldemort didn't sound wrong. He sounded almost sincere. What if he _had_ got smarter? Harry licked his lips. Why was he alive then? Harry heard stirring behind him. Of course, Morfin. Voldemort had recognised his long lost uncle and was... what? Confused? Or maybe... Harry tried not to glance at the table with the golden flagstone on it. There was no way that Voldemort could recognise the ring from a load of gold. Could he? And anyway the ring was just a trap? Wasn't it?

Harry began getting very _very_ nervous.

"So..." Harry glanced at Sasori, trying to buy time. "Long time no see. How have you been?"

"Richer." Sasori's eyebrow twitched up.

"You and your people have been keeping quiet." Harry tried to twist his hands out of his bonds.

"We do what our client asks of us." Sasori's accented voice had traces of cynical humour.

"I bet." Harry smiled. "And where is... Barty... Crouch..." Harry trailed off as his eye fell on a box under one of the lab tables. It was open and the contents plainly visible. Dull grey disks, lead. Hundreds of them. Why the hell would anyone want coins made of lea-

Oh HELL no! Harry took an involuntary deep breath, then...

"That BASTARD!" Harry spat. Anger filling his veins.

Voldemort followed his gaze but Harry wasn't finished.

"Bastard, idiot, fool, everything he did was worthless!"

"And by 'he' you of course refer to..."

"Dumbledore!" Harry screamed, at that moment not caring that the person he was venting to was the dark lord. "That moron told me he destroyed it! Told me five years ago! But he never did did he? He put it right back where it was before! Probably too cowardly to actually go through with it! Or maybe he wanted it for himself. _That_ was what Crouch stole from Gringots! That's what brought you back from the brink of death! That's how you've suddenly got all this gold! After five years you finally got it! The _bloody PHYLOSOPHER'S STONE!_"


	54. Stone and the Scorpion: 9

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 9: Betrayal, deception and masks

The little lab was filled with deathly silence for a moment, then Voldemort uncurled his long fingers and clapped. Once. Twice. Three times.

"Very well done Mr Potter." Voldemort cocked his head to one side. "There really were quite a few clues but well done nonetheless. But I believe your outburst had more than one purpose did it not? You wished to divide and conquer? As you know the _Lie Gou_ will not accept magical gold you hoped to inspire our mutual friend Sasori," Voldemort flicked a long finger at the mercenary, who still had not moved. "To attack me as you reveal that my source of means to pay him has not been entirely mundane? Am I right?"

"Something like that." Harry said, who had been thinking nothing of the sort. It was a good plan though, especially since at the moment Harry couldn't think of a better one.

"And a year ago it would no doubt have worked." Voldemort smiled. "But I have been more careful since you killed me. I was entirely honest with Mr Sasori about my source of income, no deception whatsoever. They were more than happy to accept gold created with the phylosopher's stone, weren't you my scorpion?"

"More than happy." Nothing about Sasori moved except his lips. Harry almost frowned. Why had the _Lie Gou_ reversed what was basically their only hard and fast rule?

"So you see Harry." Voldemort turned back to his prisoners. "You cannot break my new servants from me. It is futile to try. Now... on to the important matters." Voldemort leant down close to Harry's face, then hesitated and straightened again and stepped a pace away before continuing. "I would like to ask you a question."

"Yes?" Harry cold feel just the merest draft on his hands. The door behind him must lead somewhere, but there was no way he could reach it. Harry found himself wishing he had his god-hand back, damn the consequences.

"I would like to know why you felt in necessary to destroy my ring."

Dammit.

"What? So it wasn't the source of all your power?" Harry quipped desperately.

"It was not, no." Voldemort replied almost amicably. "I assume you or one of your little friends tried to wear it?"

"I wore it." Harry tried desperately to guess where the conversation was going. "Saw a familiar face. You've changed since your disco years. And now changed back a little?... looking a little pink around the gills Tom. What's with that?"

"One of the wonderful effects of the elixir of life." Voldemort held out a hand and examined it smiling. "A much more pleasant means of extending one's like than dark magic or unicorn blood. It tastes like mercury you know..."

"Not like chicken?" Harry's eye noted a heavy calliper on the lab table next to him. Heavy enough to use as a club. That was if he could get his hands free. And if a club was even the slightest use against a dark wizard. Beside the calliper was a black bladed scalpel. Too small to use as a weapon but it looked magical. Would it cut magical bonds?

From under the table there came a deep hissing. A second later the thick shape of Voldemort's pet snake uncurled. Winding like a sinuous ribbon between Harry and Voldemort.

"Ignore Nagini." Voldemort said without thinking. "Tell me about my ring."

"What about it?" Harry said desperately. He could probably reach the scalpel with a distraction. "We found it's secret. We burnt it. End of story."

"You found it's secret?" Voldemort seemed to steady himself. "It... it had a secret?"

"Course," Harry bluffed. "It was the same as the diary." Tell me what the bloody secret is.

"Ah..." Voldemort clicked his teeth. "Well I must applaud you for working it out. Does Severus know?"

"Oh yes." Harry nodded happily. "I'm not keeping things secret from the order any-more. Guess we've both learnt."

"I suppose we have." Voldemort seemed to be working hard to keep himself in check.

"Knows about the other thing too." Harry decided to take a wild gamble. "The one in the Lestrange vault."

"He!..." Voldemort's eye's flashed red and his hands bunched into fists. The dark lord hissed from between clenched teeth. "I suppose I have dear old Slughorn to thank for all this."

_Slughorn_. Harry burnt the name into his brain, then tried to decide what answer would elicit more information.

"No actually." And would also keep whoever Slughorn was alive until he could be questioned.

"So you know about the diary..." Voldemort fixed Harry in the eye. "And the ring, and the cup. I suppose you know about the music-box as well?"

"I-..." Harry paused, he knew this trick. "No actually, did we miss that one?"

"Yes, you did." Voldemort smiled. Harry tried to stop himself smiling. "But no matter. I have a better means of living forever now."

_Living forever_. The ring and diary and... what had it been? The cup. They let him live forever? Harry's brow furrowed. Then it him like a shock... he knew what they were.

It had been when he was on his mad spree of _self improvement_. After he had got his eye. After he got his god-hand. He had been face to face with the lowest most curse-riddled and pockmarked flesh-monger in Delhi. He had come for a spike in his heart that would let him go without sleep and food for weeks at a time and the witch had looked him in the eye and offered him something... _better_. She had described it to him like a artist talking about her most prised work. She had even offered to procure a... a _sacrifice_. Harry had waited until her back was turned, bludgeoned her over the head with a statue and left her in a sack on the doorstep of the Indian auror headquarters. He hadn't even bothered to check whether she was still breathing. He hadn't wanted to be glad if she wasn't.

Hmm... Come to think of it clubs do sometimes work on dark wizards.

"I'm surprised you made so many." Harry flicked his eyes up too meet the dark lord's. "_Horcruxes_ aren't children's toys."

Sasori shifted.

"I do not fear them." Voldemort didn't seem to have noticed. "I am the master of my own existence now. And soon a master of all life."

"Oh really? How's that?"

"All it takes to be a master of life," Voldemort spread his hands. "Is to be a master of death."

"Being able to end life doesn't make you the master of it." Harry's eye flicked nervously to the veil in the corner of the room. Beside it there was a rough painting. In the painting a sky full of unfamiliar stars stretched out over a vast desert of grey sand, stretching away to distant mountains. Hundreds of sets of footprints headed out and away towards the horizon. None came back. This was very, _very_ unnerving. "I assume this is the part where you tell me your evil plan?"

"No Mr Potter." Voldemort chuckled. "This is the point where you, and each of your little friends make a choice."

"I'll have the fish."

"You can choose," Voldemort continued. "To die at the teeth of Nagini," The snake hissed and arched. "Or experience the power of death first hand." Voldemort waved his hand towards the fluttering veil. "Choose."

"What's beyond the veil?" Harry asked to play for time.

"That is part of what I am trying to find out Potter." Voldemort shrugged. "The first step to control is knowledge."

"We've both been dead Tom." Harry clicked his neck. He had a feeling he would have to run soon. "We know what it's like."

"Paddling in the shallows tells you little about the ocean."

"Poetic." A distraction... please...

"Thank you. Have you made a choice?"

"I think-"

"_SASHISA!_" The inhuman cry sounded from behind Harry. Morfin's eyes had flickered open, and he was scrabbling like a mad thing against his bonds. "_ZASHIKA BASTARD SAHI!_"

"Morfin..." Harry muttered but it fell on deaf ears.

"_SACISCA!_" Morfin spat towards Nagini. The snake raised itself up and hissed back.

"_Shsassi!_" Voldemort barked a command.

"It's not nice to talk in a language not everyone can understand-"

"_SISSIA!_"

"_Cazis._"

Nagini shook like a rattlesnake.

"-or even hear."

"_SACISCA!_"

"It pains me that you are of my blood." Voldemort spat.

"_SACISCA ZER!_" Morfin was straining against his bonds so hard his veins were like hosepipes. Harry tried to edge towards the lab table. Sasori hadn't moved.

"_SACISCA!_"

Harry edged. Nagini showed her fangs.

"_SACISCA BITCH-SNAKE SACISCA!_"

"Harry..." Draco was just coming awake, his voice full of confusion.

"Pathetic." Voldemort raised his wand.

"_SACISCA!_"

"You can die like the wretch you are." Voldemort hissed. "_Avada-_"

"You know why the _Lie Gou_ are helping you!" Harry yelled desperately, flinging his first thought into the air. "They don't accept fake gold but they _do_ betray their clients! They want the stone for themselves!"

Voldemort's eyes widened.

"NOW!" Sasori moved like a cat, his wand appearing in his hand and flashing to the dark lord. A blinding ark of light flashed into the dark lord's hastily raised shield, catapulting him back into the wall.

"What do you know?" Harry thought as he threw himself at the lab table. "I was right." He rolled, his fingers touching the knife and he dropped down the other side like a stone.

Nagini turned and lunged at Harry but Morfin leapt on top of her. The giant snake spun and bit down hard. Blood fountained like a geyser.

Harry worked the knife against his bonds. It was working! Faster!

The _Lie Gou_ at the door drew their wands but the dead men were all around them. Harry saw the corpse of Greyback grab an arm and tear it from it's socket.

Faster! One of the ropes was loose.

Morfin toppled to the floor but even as he did a whiff of darkness flew from his sleeve and struck Nagini in the eye. Smokey! Biting again and again like a piston into the larger snake. Nagini tried to twist to bring her teeth to bear but the little snake was too quick, biting again and again!

One of the ropes was cut through! One more! Harry could see Draco grabbing a knife from a fallen _Lie Gou_.

"TRAITORS!" Voldemort rose in a flickering aura of flame and rage. Flickering shadows of darkness filled the room and the veil blew like it was caught in a gale. "I will destroy all of you!"

Sasori didn't answer, merely threw a savage lightning bolt that drove Voldemort back. The dark lord hissed and flung a hand forward. The black shapes in the air flew together around Sasori, swallowing him up in darkness for a moment before an explosion of flame. Harry was thrown to the floor in the mass of burning mana, his weakened bonds snapping under the strain. Harry tried to stagger to his feet but dropped a moment later as a flash of green shot over his head. With a screeching yell the door was thrust open. Bellatrix staggered back into the room, ten more _Lie Gou_ following her. The screaching witch turned and her eyes widened as she saw Harry free.

"You! You li-"

She got no further as Harry flashed his hand forward. The dark scalpel spun from his hand and stabbed through the bitch's eye.

Harry ducked behind the lab desk again. He couldn't see Draco anymore, Harry hoped to god he was hiding somewhere too. He needed his bloody eye! Harry crawled forwards, ducking as a whirling pinwheel of flame came flashing overhead. A body came flying afterwards. Harry darted over and grabbed the man's wand.

"_Accio eye!_" Harry held out his hand and felt his familiar orb fly into it. He shoved it eagerly back into his socket and saw the world come back. "Oh my god!" The dark shapes in the air were everywhere, streaming through the walls!

Harry had to dodge desperately as a ball of darkness shattered the wall behind him. The air screamed with some sort of banshee howl. The veil was streaming like a flag in a hurricane. Harry's eye whirled. Draco! He was... smart. Lying down beside a pile of bodies with a cloak over him. Lying low.

Voldemort was being driven back, there were too many _Lie Gou_ for him. _Sasori_ was out in front, still silent. The screaming in the air got louder, the dark shapes filling the air were screaming. All of them had empty eyes. Harry screamed as one passed through his chest. If felt like ice.

"You've lost Tom Riddle!" Sasori broke his silence. "You're outnumbered!"

Voldemort threw a killing curse at the assassin, who dodge effortlessly. The dark lord held out a hand and Harry saw a shining speck of gold fly from one of the tables. His eye picked it out, a gold medallion carved with a grinning devil. Voldemort flicked it around his neck and turned, leaping backwards. He threw a wall of darkness behind him and, without hesitation, darted directly through the veil.

There was a moment of silence, the spirits on the air went still. Harry didn't move, the _Lie Gou_ would kill him as quick as Voldemort would.

"Well..." Sasori lowered his wand. "That went well-"

The veil exploded outwards like a dark wall of hell. The wind screamed so hard Harry had to clamp his hands over his ears. The shadows swallowed one of the _Lie Gou_, stripping him down to bones in moments.

Harry scrambled under the table and dashed across the floor. A screaming shape slashed at his face, tearing off lines in blood. Harry slashed out with his wand, summoning fire to blast the thing away. It barely phased it.

"DRACO!" Harry stumbled to the floor, grabbing Morfin's leg. Draco leapt up from his place on the floor, and skidded towards him. The dark shapes surrounded him as soon as he moved.

"_Eiectio!_" Harry yelled desperately and the wraiths were thrown away. Draco fell forward and Harry grabbed his outstretched hand. Harry squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, "_Spinners end!_"

His eye whirled in it's socket and Harry felt a jerk at his navel. The dark screams cut out as the power of the portkey whirled them away from the earthly face of hell. Harry felt the ground hit him like a wall and lay there for a minute, catching his breath.

"Your eye..." Draco was gasping on the ground. "Your eye was a portkey."

"Snape did it." Harry shuddered, his muscles shaking. "Emergency backup."

"You had that all along?"

"Yep." Harry looked around weakly. Morfin... Harry staggered over to the limp shape on the ground. He knew it was no good to try to find a pulse. His eye told him everything he needed to know.

"Is he dead?" Draco asked. Harry didn't answer, it wasn't necessary.

A faint hissing sounded from the body and Harry saw Smokey rise slowly from the body of his master, his little head darting this way and that. Harry met the little Snake's eyes and pushed just a little. The animal mind was surprisingly cogent. It knew what had happened, it knew _why_ it had happened. It wasn't angry, it was just... sad.

Harry held out his hand gingerly. The snake hesitated. Harry pushed into it's eyes again and it slithered slowly onto his hand and up his sleeve. Harry tried not to grimace as it curled around his arm near the elbow.

"Where are we?" Draco was standing, looking around nervously.

"Field north of Hogwarts." Harry waved his wand over Morfin's body, cleaning the blood. Another wave and the air around the body coalesced, freezing into a casket.

"What are you doing?" Draco stepped over, limping a little. "Shouldn't we just take him back to Hogwarts?"

"We're not going back to Hogwarts. Snape's on a mission somewhere and we don't have time to find him. Got to fall back into the old habits for a while." Harry took the marauder's badge out of his pocket and quickly sent a message before jabbing his wand forward. God he hoped this worked... "_Expecto Patronum._"

White mist flashed to solid form and whispered away on long thin wings. It spun in the air and floated off towards Hogwarts.

"That'll find McGonagall. Tell her to find this Slughorn and look after him." Harry turned back towards the grave and stopped for a moment.

"Harry tell me what the hell is going on." Draco growled.

"I'll tell you when we meet the others." Harry reached out and grabbed Draco's arm. "We've got to go."

"No." Draco knocked the arm away angrily. "Where do you want to go?"

"Erg! Look..." Harry held his head in his hands. "Didn't you hear what I said? Voldemort has Hocruxes! Do you know what they are?"

"No, I don't."

"They... I don't have time to explain it!" Harry yelled. "They're _VERY BAD THINGS_. That he has! And there is at least one more that we haven't burnt yet. There may be others, don't know where they are, but I know where one of them is. That's the good bit. Bad bit is that Voldemort knows too. And I'm not letting that snake faced bastard get there first! I _know_ he's on his way there now. I just... I just know."

"The vault..." Draco whispered. "You want to break into Gringots. You want to break into Gringots now."

"I want to break into Gringots now."

Black robed figures spilled out of Knockturn Alley. The light flashed off the skull masks as the screaming began. The figures made straight for the doors of the bank. Goblins slammed the doors shut with a crack. Every window filled with gringos goblins, each one holding something sharp and crackling with electricity. One of them fired down at the robed figures, a lightning bolt of shining silver light. A hasty shield reflected it into the sky.

More bolts rained down, coming thick and fast. The goblins had prepared, they weren't going to be caught out again.

Shields flashed and the death eaters were driven back. One or two of them tried to respond but the spells went wide as the goblin blitzkrieg intensified. Then, suddenly, the death eaters broke, spun, and ran away in disarray. The goblins sending jeers to follow them.

They dashed back into the alley and crashed into a shop. Pushing the stunned shopkeeper out of the way they threw themselves into the flue one after another.

After the last figure had emerged from the chimney Ginny pulled her hood back and took off her mask.

"That went well." Split said dryly as he too pulled off his disguise.

"I wonder if Harry and the others got in?" Neville was biting his lip.

"We did our part right." Ginny nodded. "So they should have too."

Harry, Draco, Padma and the Weasley twins had already been in the band when the 'Attack' started. Harry had picked a Gringots goblin running for safety and surreptitiously aimed his wand...

"_Imperio._" The goblin slowed to a crawl, it's expression going glassy. Harry turned back to the other marauders. "It worked, come on."

The hypnotized goblin walked down a side corridor, followed by the invisible marauders. Harry flicked his wand and mentally ordered the goblin to take them to the Lestrange vault. After a moment where it's green features twisted like it was resisting it turned and got into one of the waiting mine carts. Harry and the others followed.

Harry shuddered as the mine cart started off. He didn't like doing this. The goblins weren't evil, they just had a different definition of good to humanity's. But Harry hadn't been able to think up of anything approaching another plan. Well there was nothing to be done now...

"Is this going to work Harry?" Draco asked quietly.

"We'll get to the vault." Harry shrugged. "Getting back will be more tricky. Which is why we have masks... and robes... and I have grenades."

"And do you think they'll believe we're death eaters? Despite the fact there are only supposed to be two left."

"Look Draco I had exactly twelve seconds to think up this plan. Didn't see you coming up with anything better."

"You're the plan person." Fred chimed in.

_Why_ am I the freeking plan person. Harry thought, but with the vague knowledge that this would not be the most calming thing to say he replaced it with, "Shut up and watch the hypno-goblin."

Harry watched the walls fly past for a few more minutes. By now the attack on the alley would be breaking up. The goblin guards would be going back to their posts. The cart rumbled loudly along the tracks. Harry hoped to hell they didn't track the carts somehow.

"Do you think he knew?" Draco muttered quietly.

"Who?" Even Harry's twisty brain couldn't work that one out.

"Morfin."

"Knew what?" Harry hesitated, Draco was speaking so the other's wouldn't be able to hear.

"The snake. He was pulling the snake towards him." Draco was staring out into the dark. "Do you think he knew what he was doing... drawing it away from us or was he just being... crazy."

"Why are you asking me this?" Harry shrugged.

"I want to know..." Draco closed his eyes. "Just want to know."

"You just want to know?" Harry sighed, he had no idea why he was being asked this question. Which made choosing the lie difficult. "Then yes. I think he knew what he was doing."

"You do? Why?"

"Because that's what people like him do."

"What do you mean people like him?"

"Heroes." Harry shrugged.

"You think he was a hero? He was insane. And a vigilante."

"Well you know me..." Harry chuckled. "I prefer flawed heroes."

"Hm..." Draco fell silent for a moment. Then he laughed flatly. "Are we flawed heroes?"

"Don't know." Harry glanced towards the goblin sitting blankly in the front of the cart. "We're certainly flawed."

They fell back into silence as the cart trundled on.

"Are we nearly the-" George started before the cart screeched to a halt.

Harry glanced around. Blank tunnel. No doors. Harry was about to open his mouth when a screaming alarm came out of nowhere.

"Masks!" Harry slammed his back on and leapt out of the cart. He cursed, the wheels had welded to the track. He flicked his wand at the goblin.

_TAKE US TO THE VAULT_

I can't. Against the rules...

TAKE US TO THE LESTRANGE VAULT

The goblin shuddered and trotted off down the corridor.

"Follow him!" Harry yelled over the shrieking alarm. The marauders were already masked, wands out. Harry led them after the staggering goblin. It hesitated in the middle of the tunnel.

_TAKE US TO THE VAULT_

Stupid voice.

Damnit! Harry spun the goblin around to face him and pushed into his brain. Flashes of vaults, tunnels...

_LET ME IN_

A route, a turning, a dragon. _A dragon!?_ A door.

_HOW DO I OPEN THE DOOR_

Only a Gringots goblin...

WHY? WHAT ARE THE CHARMS?

Don't know. Only a Gringots goblin.

Damnit. Harry gritted his teeth. That meant they still needed the goblin. Harry pushed into his mind as hard as he could.

_TAKE US TO THE VAULT_

Won't work. Door won't open if the goblin is enchanted.

Harry's eyes flashed wide open. No...

Suddenly a bolt of electricity crackled through the darkness above Harry's head. His eye gave his maybe a split seconds warning. His legs buckled without thought and he rolled, stabbing his wand out and firing at the vague shape in the distance. Another bolt flew from behind and Harry leapt to the wall. The air sparkled with bolts as the marauders ducked for cover. The goblin stood there stupidly.

_HIDE!_

The goblin fell forward with a smile on his face. Harry aimed his wand at the shapes ahead and shot a stunner. Behind him he could hear the marauders fighting on the other side. Harry _felt_ the rock explode over his head and leapt out of the way of the cave-in.

God this was messy. Harry was the only one who could see anything with the darkness and the flashes and the goblins in amongst the humans and the falling rocks. Harry screamed as a bolt cut into his leg. It hadn't even been aimed at him.

"_Incendio!_" Harry stabbed his wand at the minecart, which exploded with flame. Harry spun and slammed his fist into the goblin behind him. The freaking things were everywhere! Fingers closed around Harry's neck and he was jerked backwards. He tried to fire over his shoulder but his wand was jerked out of his hand. There were two of them! Fingers gripped round and slammed into his eyesocket. If it had been the real one it would have been squashed like a grape. Harry forced himself to his feet and slammed backwards into the wall. The hands loosened for a moment but then came on harder. His eye swivelled in it's socket and he could see the screaming goblins clawing at his neck. He slammed back again but this time it didn't even phase them.

_Can't breath._

Of course you can't breath!

Harry dropped to his knees, desperately trying to pull the hands off his neck. He couldn't even get them to budge. Black dots floated in front of his eye. He was fading...

"_Sssss!_"

Smokey leapt out of Harry's sleeve and the fingers disappeared like mist. Harry spun and punched the fearful goblin behind him. His fingers darted to the floor and grabbed the Goblin's shock-stick, with a flick he shot the thing at the other goblins chest. The grey creature was thrown back against the wall and fell, stunned.

Harry's eye found Smokey on the floor, rising to bite. Harry grabbed him by the head. If the little snake bit a goblin that goblin would be _very_ dead. Harry met the snake's eyes but saw only rage and animal hatred. Harry quietly stunned him and dropped him in his pocket.

He turned and saw the other marauders picking themselves up out of the rubble.

"Everyone alive?" Harry coughed roughly.

"We're aright." Fred was pulling his brother up off the floor. "George got hit but I think he's aright."

"How about the goblins?"

"We used stunners." Draco said as Harry scooped his wand back up. "They-" Draco paused. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Harry's eye spun it's socket. "No."

"Rushing sound." Draco cocked his head like a dog.

"Not all of us have wolf senses." Harry growled. "Where is it coming from?"

"Behind us.."

Harry focussed his eye, cutting through stone...

"RUN!" Harry spun, grabbed their goblin guide and belted down the corridor. "RUN!"

"What is it!?"

"Tidal wave!"

"What do you mean '_Tidal wave_'" Padma yelled.

"Stop asking questions and RUN!"

Harry reached a branch and chose based of faint flashes from the goblins memory. He risked a glance behind him and saw water bearing down.

"We're not going to make it! Hit the floor!" Harry threw himself to the ground and shielded the goblin underneath him. The roaring water caught up with him and Harry felt it crash over them like a wall.

_WHAT IS THIS?_

Thief's downfall. Washes away enchantments.

Harry gripped his wand but the water was gone almost as soon as it had come. The goblin under him began to squirm and Harry realized that the _imperio_ must have been whipped clean.

"_Imperio!_" That had sounded wrong! The spell fizzled and the goblin's eyes narrowed. Harry was pushed off and the grey creature dissipated into the darkness. Harry staggered to his feet and tried to yell.

_PAIN._

Harry put a hand to his throat. It didn't feel right at all. Somewhere in his leg something snapped and Harry howled in pain. He stumbled forward but one of his legs seemed longer than the other. With another stab of pain the other leg slammed down and Harry was thrown to the ground. Everywhere on his skin was crawling like worms. Harry shuddered and tried to crawl forward.

_What the hell was happening._

Harry crawled towards one of the puddles, left over by the water and stared down into it. He pulled his mask off and a face that wasn't his own looked back. His fake eye was the same but the other had changed from emerald green to pale hazel. His hair had faded from black to brown and was hanging in lank curls, soaked like a dead rat. With a nauseating snap his face changed too, getting broader and flatter. Harry's shaking fingers came up, exploring the new features... what the hell...

Then suddenly he realized what had happened.

The thief's downfall washed away enchantment. _All_ enchantment, even Dumbledore's. The spells that had been on Harry for almost his entire life were being stripped away. It wasn't that he was looking at a face that wasn't his. It was that he was finally _was_.

He finally looked like himself.

"Drop the wand." Harry felt the point of a wand pushed against the back of his neck. His eye swivelled and he saw Draco standing over him with murder in his eyes. "Drop the wand you bastard. And tell me what the hell you've done with Harry!"


	55. Stone and the Scorpion: 10

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 10: Secret Identity

_I just cannot catch a freaking break._

"Draco..."

"Drop the wand!"

"Ok... Ok..." Harry carefully placed his wand on the ground next to him. "But I am Harry. I can't explain, not right now but... I am."

"Do you think we're idiots?" Draco flicked the wand off the ground. The other marauders were crowded around him, their wands out as well. Harry slowly turned around, keeping his hands up.

"It's... It's complicated." Harry was breathing hard. "I know it's hard to... but I am the same person I always was."

"You don't even sound the same." Padma pointed out.

"I just... Please for the love of god you just have to believe me!" Harry glanced into the darkness. "The goblins aren't done you know, they'll be coming back! You think you can go in, get the cup and get out, with a prisoner?"

"I wasn't intending to take a prisoner." Draco growled.

"Really? Do you know where the vault is?" Harry's eyes narrowed. "I do. Don't believe me. Fine. But you need me! Believe me if you want even the slightest chance of getting the bloody Horcrux you need me. I will explain everything. _Believe me_. But we need to go. Now."

Draco hesitated...

"Please Draco..." Harry pleaded. "For the love of god please..."

"Fine." Draco stepped back. "First take off your coat. And your bag. All your weapons."

"Got a few hours?"

"Now!"

"Fine." Harry shucked his coat off and threw it to his friends then stood. "Can we go now?"

Harry turned and walked off down the corridor. No one tried to stop him. No one tried to follow him either.

"Look at it this way." Harry turned. "Is turning into someone else half way through the heist _really_ the strangest thing I've ever done?"

The marauders began to hesitantly move.

"Thank you." Harry threw his hands up and hurried off down the corridor.

"Hey!" A stunner exploded over his head. Harry turned to see Draco pointing his wand at him. "Don't try to get away."

"Yes, I'm trying to escape down a tunnel underground." Harry growled back at the marauders. "Where the hell would I go?"

"Just stay where I can see you." Draco's wand hadn't dipped an inch.

Harry glared flatly at him before starting back down the damn cave. They kept going in silence, Harry choosing turning based on vague guesswork and flashes of memory.

"How far is it?" Padma asked suddenly.

"Two more turnings... I think."

"You think?" Draco asked sharply.

"Yeah, _I think_." Harry ignored the wand at his back (moments from blasting him to oblivion) and carried on. As they got closer Harry's eye began to show him a cavern stretching out before them, far larger than the caves. And in the middle. "Damnit, I thought that was what the goblin said..."

"What?"

"Dragon." Harry turned the final corner and crouched down behind a bolder. "Look for yourselves." The marauders peeked out to see the vast wyrm, chained in front of the massive door. It's eyes were milky and white, it's skin too.

"It doesn't look too healthy." Padma said thoughtfully. "And there are five of us."

"Four." Draco broke in. Harry rolled his eyes but Padma nodded.

"Four of us. If we all stun it at the same time it might go down. That's what they did in the triwizard tournament."

"What about the door?" Fred scratched his head. "I don't thing we'll be able to break the locking spells."

"We don't need to." Draco moved to stand. "We just need to find another goblin."

"That won't work." Harry hissed. "The other goblin told me before we were attacked. The doors can tell if the goblins are moving of their own free will."

"And you only mention this _now?_" Draco narrowed his eyes.

"Well between the fight and the _death threats_ I didn't really get a chance." Harry paused, that time even _he_ heard the change in his voice. He had an Irish accent. Dumbledore had even changed _that!_. He glanced back at the vault. "I think I see a way to get through..."

"Tell me the spell then." Draco said sharply.

"It's not so much a spell, and I don't think you'd be able to do it anyway."

"Don't even think you're getting your wand back." Draco laughed bitterly.

"You know I'm getting _real_ tired of this-"

"Then tell me who you are!"

"I don't have time and you won't believe me."

"Then how can I believe anything you say?"

"You-... Fine." Harry stood, registering the shock in his friend's eyes. "I don't need a wand." With that he vaulted over the rock and began walking down the slope towards the dragon.

"HEY!" The great beast raised it's head. "Over here!"

Harry had to dodge a gout of flame. The lizard was old but it was fast. Dashed to the left and the creature lumbered to follow him. He crossed in front of it, rolling out of the way of a fireball, and kept moving.

The chains around it's arms twisted into one another, kinking.

Harry ran back the other way. The beast leapt forward, raking it's claws through the air. Harry's hand twitched to a wand that was no longer there and ducked at the last minute. He threw himself forward, leaping under the out-flung arm. His boots bit stone and he leapt over the whipping tail that threatened to cut his legs out from under him and dashed back out of the dragon's range.

The chain twisted around a stalactite.

Harry ran for the entrance to the vault, rolling under an orb of flame that left a scorch mark on the wall and made the cave shake. He skidded to a stop before the iron door and the wyrm turned to face him. It tried to step forward but it's twisted chain wouldn't let it reach the any more. Instead it breathed deep and belched out a fireball. Harry twisted to the side and felt his eyebrows burn off as the dragon-flame passed right in front of him. The fireball exploded against the vault door, turning it cherry red.

"Yeah! More!" Harry yelled at the dragon. "Come on!" A lance like a flamethrower forced him to the floor and made him cry out in pain as it struck his shoulder a glancing blow. His shirt was on fire. So was his skin. Harry rolled to put out the flames and tore off the scorched fabric. Another fireball pin-wheeled over his head and struck the hinge of the door. Parts of it were almost incandescent white.

Harry dashed the way he'd come, waiting for the dragon to turn and follow. The chain clicked off the stalactite, springing like a fishing line. Harry reversed direction and ran back in front of the door.

"Over here!" Harry yelled at the no-longer-constrained dragon. "Come and get me!"

The dragon roared and lunged, shoving one car-sized claw at the boy. He leapt to the side as the claw crashed through the weakened metal with a horrific screech. The dragon reared up on it's hind legs, it's claw a red mess of molten metal and blood. Suddenly four stunners slammed into it's unprotected underside. The great beast teetered for a moment, then another four struck it in the head and it fell like a tree. Crashing down onto the rock.

Harry turned to see the marauders rushing to join him.

"He must be Harry." Fred was smiling broadly. "No one but Harry could have pulled that off."

"He's proved he's crazy he hasn't proved he's Harry." Draco brushed past Harry and continued towards the vault.

"You're welcome!" Harry called after him before following him into the vault. The marauders stopped as they moved into the middle of the room. Golden things glittered from every direction.

"Wow..." George's eyes glittered.

"Touch nothing." Harry's eye spun in his socket. "It was supposed to be a cup... there!" Harry stepped forward and felt his feet weld to the floor.

"Where?" Draco moved into view.

"Did you do this to my feet?"

"Where?"

"Cos if you did do this to my feet I _will_ break your neck. Don't think that wand will stop me!"

Draco raised one eyebrow slowly then punched Harry in the face. Harry tried to stay upright but his feet wouldn't move and he fell backwards, landing on his elbows and slamming onto the floor. Draco's face came into view above him.

"Where?"

"Over by the corner." Harry pointed. Draco's looked over. Harry resisted the urge to grab his legs, jerk them out from under the blond bastard, throw him to the floor then punch him in the stomach and break his arm before taking back his wand and breaking his neck. Resisted. Barely. "By the vases."

Draco moved off as Harry levered himself to his feet.

"Thanks for helping." Harry glared at the rest of the marauders.

"Are you really Harry?" Padma narrowed her eyes.

"I'm who I always was." Harry shrugged.

"That was evasive."

"Don't have time to explain." Harry looked over at where Draco was reaching for the cup. He momentarily considered _not_ telling him about the curses on the cup. Momentarily considered it, and decided it was a great idea.

"OW!"

"Look out for the flagrante curse!" Harry called out cheerfully.

"DAMNIT!"

"And the gemino!" Harry laughed as he saw Draco drop the cup on the floor, scores of other cups appearing out of the air.

"The counter for the gemino is _unicus unicus unicus?_" Harry called out again. "I'll tell you the flagrante counter if you give me back my damn wand!"

Draco came back into view without looking at Harry, stalking past him and out of the vault.

"Hey! Are you gonna just leave me here?" Harry tried to move his feet. "Come on!"

Padma stepped hesitantly up to him and aimed her wand at his feet.

"There had better be a explanation for all of this." She said, before murmuring the _finite_.

Harry felt his feet come free and hurriedly dashed out of the vault after Draco. The slytherin was almost to the Dragon when Harry's eye caught a flash from a side tunnel.

"Back in the vault!" Harry yelled. But he wasn't quick enough. Before Draco had time to even turn a bolt hit him full in the chest, throwing him to the floor. The cup clattered out of his hands. Goblins funnelled out of tunnels and Harry was forced back into the vault. "Summon Draco!" Harry yelled to the other marauders as he dived through the ruined vault door. A moment later the cup and it's stunned carrier flew after him.

Bolts flew through the open door like horizontal rain. Harry dashed towards a weird gold chair and kicked it in front of the door, he ducked behind it and grabbed the arm, ignoring the burning pain in his own. Copies of the chair fell out of nowhere, piling on top of one another in front of the door.

Harry dashed back and grabbed his wand off Draco's prone body. He spun around to see three wands pointing straight at him.

"Oh COME ON!" Harry yelled. "Either shoot me or shut up!" Harry pushed past them and aimed his wand over his barricade. "_Rennervate!_"

There was a roar as the dragon was rudely awakened. The bolts stopped for a moment as the goblins decided they had bigger things to worry about.

"Do you think we can burst past them?" Fred was gripping his wand fiercely.

"I doubt it." Harry stepped backwards. It was beginning to look like he had regained his true face only to die in it. He hadn't planned this enough. Hadn't had a plan, but what else could he have done?

"Harry..."

"I don't know." Harry glanced back at the barricade. The roars had stopped. The bolts had begun again. "I don't know." Harry held his wand grimly. Really should have planned this better... And there was no help...

A flash of flame burst from behind the marauders. Harry spun with his wand out but it dipped a moment afterwards. Harry's mouth fell open in shock.

"That's..." Padma pointed. "That's a..."

"Phoenix." Harry stepped forward. The bird looked at him, apparently un-phased by the bolts hitting the ceiling. Harry had no idea why it was there, but he wasn't about to kick a gift horse in the mouth. "Grab a feather!" Harry ordered the other marauders, grabbing Draco and pulling him towards the bird. It hopped forward and onto his outstretched arm. The phoenix's beady eye's met Harry's. Flames curled around them just as the barricade broke down.

Harry fell onto grass and felt claws leave his arm. He opened his eyes and saw the phoenix flapping away calmly, giving no sign of why it had come.

"Where are we?" Harry glanced around and saw more marauders than he was expecting. Ginny and the others were staring at him in shock. The phoenix had brought them to the rendezvous point. Harry stood and dusted himself off. "Well that went well." Harry smiled. "Someone want to wake Draco?"

"Who the hell are you?" Ginny's hand was hovering near her wand.

"Oh yeah..." Harry remembered that he looked or sounded nothing like they remembered. "I guess this is kind of confusing..."

"Yes _Harry_." Padma said to general shock. "I believe you have an explanation to give."

"Oh yeah. I guess I have." Harry took a deep breath. "We should go back to Hogwarts though, they'll be worried and this'll take awhile."

"No." Padma crossed her arms. "Right now."

"Ah... ok." Harry reached into his bag and pulled his tent out, tapping it once to enlarge it to full size. "You'd better go inside, this is going to be a long story..."

In the end he told them the same way Dumbledore had told him. Flatly, with no shock. It was really the only way, the only way to tell someone that the entire world was different to the way they thought it was. Like telling someone that, contrary to everything they knew, the sky was really orange. He tried not to look at their faces as he spoke. It was like he was stripping naked, bearing everything to them. All the marauders were there, and in a way that was worse. The original marauders, the core, he knew like family. But the others, the ones that had joined when he was away last year, not so much. Some of them had probably joined because he was Harry Potter. Because they trusted the prophecy, because they trusted that he could destroy Voldemort. And now... he was just some guy. Just some kid who had been pushed in over his head and forced to survive. Constantly on the edge of drowning and having to claw for every drop of air. Getting his real face back should have made him feel happy. Telling his friends should have made him feel happy. Instead he felt... tired.

"...And in the end I decided to keep being Harry Potter." Harry fished lamely. "Because, much as I hate what Dumbledore did, he was right. People need to see the chosen one out there fighting. It doesn't matter what I want."

There was a long, dark silence. Harry could see shock and horror painted on every face.

"It... it makes sense." Hermione was the first to speak. "It's horrible but... it makes sense. Even the bit about you not having a name. That would explain why you, the real you, never received a Hogwarts invite, why your name was never written in the Hogwarts books. That was probably part of the reason Dumbledore chose you. There would be no record for anyone to find. "

"I don't know. Possibly." Harry shrugged. "He didn't tell me why he chose me. There can't have been that many orphaned magical children of the right age to choose from. I always thought I just got the short straw."

"So you don't even have a real name?" Neville asked quietly.

"The orphanage called me Jack." It hurt to say that name. More and more Harry thought of Jack as what he would get when all this was finally over. When the world didn't need Harry Potter anymore. When he could finally rest. He didn't tell them that though, "But I'm not comfortable with that name yet. If you could just keep calling me Harry that would be good."

"Look at me." Draco said suddenly, still sounding angry. "Look into my eyes."

"You don't believe me?" Harry complied, meeting Draco's gaze. "It's would be kind of an elaborate lie to think up."

"Shut up." Draco commanded and Harry felt a stabbing pain behind his eyes. Draco wasn't bothering to be gentle with his probing. Harry supposed he couldn't blame him. Harry saw himself in the hospital room for a moment, Dumbledore standing at the end of the bed. Harry turned his mental gaze away, letting Draco view the images alone. Harry had no need to relive that day. Eventually the mental probe subsided and Draco leant back, his face dropping from anger to shock. "It's true. It's all true..."

"You didn't want to believe it." Harry nodded. "Neither did I."

"So wait, I'm confused." Ron scratched his head. "What does this mean for the prophecy? I thought Harry Potter, um... the other Harry Potter, was the only one who could kill you-know-who. So if he's dead does that mean that..."

"It means nothing." Harry cut in. He had to head off this line of conversation quickly. "It's bull. You trying to tell me that if someone walked up to Voldemort and chopped his head off with a machete that somehow he _wouldn't_ die."

"Well no, he wouldn't." Padma pointed out. "Because of the Hocruxs."

"Which we can destroy." Harry said quickly. "Which anyone can destroy. Anyone with appropriate tools. Don't need cannon Harry for that. And besides; Pythea thinks I can defeat Voldemort and no-one knows more about prophecy works than her."

There was a murmuring of accent from around the tent. Harry breathed an internal sigh of relief, at least he had headed off that disaster.

"So what do we do now?" Split raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean what do we do now?" Harry shrugged. "We head back to Hogwarts, probably in the morning, it's too late now. And then we keep assisting the order and Snape to take down Voldemort."

"You mean we just act like northing's changed?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"Nothing has changed." Harry pointed out. "I'm still the same person I was yesterday. Voldemort's still out there. The Lie Gou are still a threat. Nothing's changed." Nothing ever changes. Except when it gets worse. "And when we go back to Hogwart's I'll find someone who can put my face back on and no one will know any different."

"And you're aright with that?"

"Yes." _No_. "World needs heroes. Harry Potter is... like my secret identity. Like spiderman."

"Who?" Ron's brow furrowed.

"Never mind." Harry hung his head tiredly. "We should all probably take a little time to rest. It's been a long day."

And when we go back to Hogwarts it all begins again.

It was hours later and Harry was sitting outside the tent looking up at the stars when he heard footsteps approaching behind him.

"Harry?... Jack?... Person?"

"My name hasn't changed." Harry chuckled into the night air. "I thought everybody was asleep?"

"I couldn't." Padma stepped up beside Harry and sat down. "It's just too much to take in at once."

"Imagine how _I_ felt."

"I don't have to imagine. I remember." Padma shrugged. "You went crazy for a while, then Pythea made you better."

"Yep."

"She does that a lot doesn't she." Padma raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any specific point?" Harry rolled his eye.

"I think you know." Padma smiled then looked away as Harry laughed. "You even laugh differently. It sounds higher."

"Irisher probably." Harry tried to hear his own voice but it sounded even stranger to him, it was probably some sort of psychosomatic thing. "I haven't really got used to it yet."

"What are you going to do when we go back to Hogwarts? Are you really going to ask someone to put you back the way you were?"

"I guess I'll have to..." Harry bit his lip. The prospect was surprisingly unpalatable. "I don't know if we'll be able to get the whole package back but we should at least be able to get the face. I can fake the voice if I have to, give me a little more time... this better?"

"Deeper."

"Better?"

"Say something else."

"You do know that if someone asks you to say something you instantly forget every word you ever knew?"

"That's a little better." Padma nodded. "We can work on it. Try more emotion."

"Should I be angrier?"

"More bitter than angry."

"Oh _great_ thanks."

"Perfect."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Partially."

"Should I be more sarcastic?"

"Definitely."

"Now you're making fun of me." Harry chuckled. "Hm, just proves I'm back to normal." Harry leant back on the grass. "I got my own face, we got out alive, got the cup, beat up a bunch of goblins and I danced with a dragon. I call that a win."

"I wonder how much of that gold got destroyed in the fires?"

"Depends how much Fred and George stuffed in their pockets."

"They didn't..."

Harry tapped his eye.

"They did. I'm not surprised." Padma shook her head, chuckling. "Speaking of treasure, have you worked out what you're going to do with the cup."

"Well... I have one idea." Harry looked up into the sky. "But I don't know if it'll work..."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Well, no not particularly."

"So why don't you try it."

"Good point." Harry stood up and closed his eyes. _Help me._

"Harry what are you-" Padma trailed off as a flash of fire lit up the night. Harry opened his eyes to see two phoenixes looking at him quizzically. Harry stepped close to them and placed the cup on the ground next to the birds.

"Would you mind flaming this thing for me." The larger phoenix hopped forward and looked up at Harry. Harry felt a little thought push towards him, it seemed to be saying... _why_. "It belonged to Voldemort." Head cocked left. "It helped him come back from the dead." Head cocked right. Bob. The larger bird hopped next to the cup and spread it's wings. Harry shielded his eyes as the birds feathers turned to crimson flame.

"You just spent an hour explaining to everyone how you're not the chosen one." Padma said quietly from behind him. "So what exactly are you?"

"I have no idea." Harry admitted, his eyes sparkling with reflected fire. After a few moments both the flames subsided and the bird was gone, flamed away back to where it came from. All that was left of the cup was a pitted scrap of metal.

"Do you think there are more of them?" Padma asked as Harry picked it up off the floor.

"More Hocruxes? No way to tell." Harry stood and looked back towards the tent. "Should probably head back to Hogwarts. They'll be worrying."

It was still dark as the marauders alighted on the grass outside the gates of Hogwarts. Harry took out his wand and aimed it at himself.

"Harry what are you doing?" Draco asked.

"Dissilusioning." Harry said the charm and felt the cold fingers of invisibility enclosing him. "No one should see me like this."

"Oh, right."

"We need to get to Snape, he'll be able to get me back looking like... like Harry." Harry felt that strange reluctance again but squashed it down. It was necessary to stay under the mask. It was necessary. "You guys head to the common rooms, you all deserve some proper sleep."

Harry walked up to the silent castle and proceeded to the dungeons. Harry stopped outside Snape's door and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in." Snape sounded like he was angry.

Harry pushed the door in and stepped into the dark office.

"Mr Potter." Snape had his back turned and was slowly measuring out a foul green liquid into a beaker. "Have you came to offer an explanation as to why I have taken Horance Slughorn into protective custody? Why a short mission that should have taken a short count of hours at most and only involved you and Mr Malfoy has taken half of Hogwarts and almost twenty four hours? Would you like to explain why Morfin Gaunt is _dead! _Would you like to explain why death eaters attacked diagon alley? And do not _TRY_ to pretend that you were not-"

"Snape turn around." Harry interrupted.

"Potter do not try-" Snape's head snapped around. His eyes widened. "You..."

"Me." Harry shrugged. "I'll explain everything, but I need you to do something about this face. Please."

"So this is what you looked like bef..." Snape whispered quietly. Then more forcefully. "Release your mental blocks."

Harry sighed, but complied. A force pushed it's way into his mind. Flashes of the past day flickered past like bits of a past life. Harry just relaxed as every detail was wrung out like dirty laundry. Apple trees... relax.

The images stopped and Harry opened his eyes. Snape pushed past him roughly.

"Hey! Where are you going!"

"I know the place you were held, the place where the dark lord's lab was." Snape pushed the door open. "It is an old wizard dwelling in London, the childhood home of Bellatrix. Perhaps there is something still there."

"What about me!" Harry called after the potions master. "I can't leave your office looking like this!" But Snape was already gone. "Wonderful." Harry pushed the door shut and collapsed on a chair. "Wonderful..."

Harry spent a fruitless hour trying to work transfiguration on himself, only succeeding in giving himself acne, when he noticed someone coming up the corridor outside. He froze momentarily before he saw who it was and relaxed.

"Hello Harry." Pythea said without pause as she pushed the door open and turned to him.

"You could at least pretend to be a little surprised." Harry pointed at his face.

"You look the same to me." Pythea closed the door.

"Well at least we match now." Harry smiled out of one brown eye and one green and into one green and one purple. "How did you know I was down here anyway?"

"Snape sent me. He told me to give you back your old face." Pythea cocked her head. "But I will only do it if you want me to."

"It's ok." Harry sighed. "I know I need to look like Harry again."

"You shouldn't feel forced, this is your choice."

"Would be kind of hard to explain."

"Not with the truth."

"Which I already decided I can't tell the world." Harry hung his head. "Maybe when all this is over. But for now the world still needs their hero. I need my secret identity back."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

Pythea moved closer and sat on the arm of his chair. She raised her hand and lightly touched his cheek. Harry shivered. Because of the magic. Just because of the magic. Thea leant in closer as her fingers played over his skin. Harry could feel her breath on his neck.

"So... how um... How long will this take?" Harry said breathlessly (the magic must have been interfering with his lungs).

"Quite a while. Longer if you keep talking." Pythea placed her hand flat over Harry's eyes and he felt a faint shifting around his lids. He could smell the little seers skin. Ink. She had been writing, probably scrying over more maps for the order. The hand was lifted away and Harry's face felt oddly warm.

"This really will take a while." Pythea said suddenly, jarring Harry back to reality. "You could try to get some sleep."

"I have a better idea." Harry opened his eyes and fixed them on Thea's. "_Gaius emineo_" The world swirled around them. "There, " Harry leant back against a tree. "That's better."

"How did you learn to do this?" Pythea asked curiously as she looked around at the illusionary orchard.

"I looked it up after you did it to me last year." Harry shrugged. "It's not that hard if you have the place you want held in your mind. And this place is engraved on every cell of my brain." Harry crossed his legs on the grass. He knew it was just the leather of the chair. But it felt like grass. Harry sighed contentedly as Pythea went back to work on his features. The wind ruffled his hair as it slowly darkened again.

_Can I ask you about something? _Harry asked wordlessly, not moving his lips. _Do you know anything about phoenixes?_

_A little. Why?_

_I don't know,but they seem to have some weird interest in me. One of them came when I called earlier. And before that one saved us in gringots._

_A phoenix chose you as it's partner?_ Pythea sounded impressed. _That's a great honour Harry._

_That's not what it is_. Harry was about to shake his head, then stopped. _They were different phoenixs, I could tell. And before, when you were sick, the whole phoenix colony was acting weird towards me. Have you heard of anything like that before?_

_That is... very strange._

_Thea we're talking mentally._ Harry chided. _You can't hide things as easily. You're really shocked by this._

_I... I don't know Harry. I'm not used to not knowing. It makes me nervous, especially where you are concerned._

_I don't think it's a danger. They saved my life remember._

_I know._ Thea shifted her fingers down to Harry's hands. He could feel his bones reshaping. _But it still makes me nervous._

_The centaurs want me dead, the phoenixes want me alive._ Harry rolled his eyes. _And that's not even getting started on the humans who want a piece of me. See anything useful in seer-o-vision?_

_No Harry._ Thea smiled softly.

Harry sighed and closed his eyes again. He had imagined the orchard in spring and there were apple blossoms floating on the air. Pythea lowered her hands, the transformation was over. Harry didn't open his eyes, better to keep the moment or a little longer. Beside him the seer leant on his shoulder and closed her own eyes.

Harry didn't know how long they were sat there but eventually the illusion was shattered by the door slamming open.

"Harry." Snape snapped as soon as he was through the door, holding it open just long enough for Natalie Zhao to step through before slamming it shut. "Harry stand up."

"Stand…right." Harry shifted uncomfortably. He was acutely aware of Thea pressing against his side. "Um… Must I? It's just that I'm… tired. Yes, tired. Legs… tired. And arms… general musculature…"

"Shut up." Snape knelt down and looked into Harry's eyes. This time he didn't have to say it, Harry obediently lowered his defences and felt the familiar pushing of Snape's mind. After a few moments Snape leant back.

"That is what I thought I saw. But I had to be sure."

"What did you see."

"The dark lord stepping through the veil." Snape stood back up and stepped over to his desk. He poured a small glass of golden liquid and drank it in one gulp.

"So?" Harry asked. "So what does that mean?"

Snape said nothing, just rubbed his forehead.

"We examined the veil we found at Grimauld Place. The house you were held in." Natalie answered. "It is functionally identical to the veil in the department of mysteries."

Pythea stiffened and Harry heard a sharp intake of breath.

"What does the veil do?" Harry asked.

"It is a one way portal to death." Zhao answered simply. "The department of mysteries was initially created to investigate the 'three great mysteries'."

"Time, destiny and death." Pythea said softly, imbuing the words ominous strength.

"Yes that is right." Natalie nodded. "Although some people think they are essentially the same thing."

"They are wrong." Thea said leadenly.

"Get on with the explanation." Snape growled from his desk.

"The veil can be used to take a person bodily into the next world." Natalie snapped irritably.

"So it was used to kill people?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Actually it was originally an honour to go through. Ancient wizards would go through late in their lives with boxes and carts full of their riches. Like an pyramid, except they were still alive. It hasn't been done for centuries though. And you're right, in medieval times it was used to execute prisoners. It's possible, with special equipment, to see through the veil." Natalie shuddered. "I've seen recordings. The prisoners tried to get back, they tries everything, but in the end they all walked away. Across the desert."

The room went silent. Harry thought back to the painting that had been hanging in Voldemort's laboratory. Hundreds of footprints leading away. None leading back.

"He knows how to see through." Harry thought back. "He's been investigating it. And he grabbed something before he stepped through, a gold amulet... he must have worked out a way to pass through it safely and get back."

"That is impossible." Natalie stated flatly. "The department has been investigating it for centuries. Maybe he _thought _he had a way-"

"The dark lord is still alive." Snape slammed his glass down on the desk.

"How do you know that?" Natalie asked pointedly.

"Because I know _him_."

"He's right." Harry shook his head. "Old snake face knows more about avoiding death than anyone else. Hey! You should put-"

"Place guards on the veil in the department of mysteries?" Snape interrupted him. "They are there as we speak. And others watch the veil at Grimauld place. But I doubt he will go to either of those places."

"There are other veils?"

"Probably, no one knows." Natalie answered. "Relics of ancient civilizations. He might come out of one of them. If he comes out at all."

Harry could see Snape opening his mouth to growl a retort so he quickly said,

"Speaking of avoiding death, did you see in my head-"

"The hocruxes." Snape interrupted him. "Yes. In retrospect it was so obvious..."

"In retrospect it always is." Harry said. "At least now we know. Do you think there are others."

"There are two others." Snape said simply. When Harry's jaw dropped open Snape simply said. "Mr Slughorn was very talkative with a some persuasion. He is not, in the end, an evil man. Or even a foolish one. He is simply wedded to him comforts. In any case he was a teacher here at Hogwarts years ago when a boy called Tom Riddle was a student here. He once spoke to the young dark lord about the possibility of a _seven_ part soul. Counting the portion that remains in the dark lords body, the diary, the serpent, the ring and the cup."

"Two left..." Harry felt dread rising in his heart. "And Voldemort knows where they are. And we don't." Harry bowed his head, another problem. He was _sick_ of this... he was tired.

"Voldemort may be injured from his passage through the veil. Injured or otherwise delayed." Snape said thoughtfully. "Given what I know of the dark lord perhaps I can find them before he recovers."

"You said 'I' not 'We'." Harry raised an eyebrow. A few months ago he would have been angered by the lack of inclusion. Now he was verging on grateful.

"No." Snape raised a hand to silence complaints that would not come. "I am not sidelineing you Harry. I am better suited to this task. As you are better suited to deal with our other problem."

"Other pro... Sasori." Harry rubbed his forehead. Little stabs of pain were feathering his temples. He wanted desperately to sleep. "I'd forgotten about him."

"It is worse than you think. He has the philosopher's stone."

"Voldemort didn't have in on him when he went through?"

"No. We found the sealed safe the dark lord was keeping the stone in. It had been broken open." Snape shook his head. "We have one dark lord to deal with. I would rather prevent the rise of another."

"Sasori's ambitious." Harry nodded. "We've got to take him down before he learns to use the stone."

"My thoughts exactly. But he will be well defended, and I cannot use any order members, all of them are needed in the search for the dark lord."

"So that leaves me." Harry bit his lip to stop a dark sigh. Snape needed him. The world needed their freakin hero... "I'll get the stone back."

"Remember what we learnt at their temple." Snape held up a cautionary finger.

"There could be hundreds of them in there." Harry nodded. "I'll come up with something though... you just worry about Voldemort. I'll deal with the _Lie Gou_."

"Very well." Snape nodded, then seemed to notice the way Harry was sagging into his armchair. "I am sure you need to rest. I know that I do."

"Goodnight professor." Harry nodded as he and Pythea left the dark office. After a few meters of silent corridor Pythea asked quietly,

"Do you have a plan?"

"Not yet. But I'll think of a plan." Harry bit his lip. He had to invade a fortified building full of magical ninjas in a bubble universe and find a tiny stone. Like looking for a needle in a haystack while evading a rabid wolverine. "And it had better be a good one..."


	56. Stone and the Scorpion: 11

Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 11: The End of the World

Harry stepped out of the flue and turned up his collar against the rain. He was headed for the Tarot, for his second visit in as many days. He had the beginnings of a plan to attack Sasori, he just didn't know if it was too insane. His plan could get them into the place, it wouldn't help them find the stone though... The rain was driving vertically into Harry as he trudged down the grey street.

Was someone following him?

Harry's eye rolled back in it's socket. There was someone on the street behind him, could be a muggle, Harry couldn't see well enough with all the distortion the rain brought. He changed direction and stepped onto a busy muggle street, taking him away from the Tarot. The man followed him. Proved nothing. Harry was very careful not to speed up or slow down. He had a meeting scheduled in the Tarot but he had left himself plenty of time. And the patrons would _not_ thank him for leading someone to their drinking hole. Tarot pubs had been found before by the aurors of course and subsequently abandoned. The _idea_ continued. Still, they would be... _displeased_.

Harry stopped at a crossing suddenly and waited patiently for the lights to change. The man following him slowed to a crawl and stopped at a shop front, pretending the shelter under the awning. The lights changed. Harry stepped forwards and the man set off in pursuit.

Bugger.

Now that he was closer Harry could zoom in on the man's face. An older man, maybe forty. Black hair with a little grey. Moustache, clean shaven otherwise. Wearing grey trench coat. Under that wearing unremarkable cords and shirt. So far so muggle. Under that the man had muscle. Unusual amounts for a man his age. Harry slowed down a tick more to get a better view. Wand. In his pocket with his finger s wrapped around it.

Damn it. So much for being muggle. Harry could see the man's heartbeat, a perfectly calm and measured tempo. He wasn't stressed whoever he was. From his face he wasn't one of the _Lie Gou_ either. Although it could be a disguise. Or it could be the _other_ people who wanted him dead.

Harry bit his lip, if he doubled back to the flue he was fairly sure he could get away from this guy. But then he wouldn't make his rendezvous. He could call backup, the marauders, but they could take ages. He could try to lose this guy... that was the smart thing to do. But then he wouldn't get any clue why these wierdos were after him. So he could fight... but not here. A car shot past Harry, throwing up water out of a puddle. Definitely not here, too many muggles.

Harry turned down an side street between tall apartment buildings. His tail was catching up. He must have realized he had been made. Harry ducked into an alleyway and ran to the end before sliding into hiding at the edge of a wall and drawing his wand.

The man stepped into the alleyway. Harry waited as his tracker strode along the dank gutter between the walls. The old man stopped suddenly and drew his wand. What was he doing?... The man aimed.

Damnit!

Harry leapt out of the way as the man sent a red bolt straight through the brick where Harry had been. Harry came up with his wand out and fired a stunner. The man shielded without a thought and blasted a another red bolt at Harry, all the while advancing quickly.

Harry flicked his wand, dragging a dumpster into the man's path and banishing it towards him. It was quickly transfigured into feathers but Harry reversed the spell and the man was broadsided, driving him back. Harry banished again, driving his battering ram of metal and trash into the man again. Suddenly a cutting white flash filled the air and the dumpster was cut in half by a glowing blade.

Harry cursed, to much to hope other people wouldn't know his tricks.

The man dashed forward, the blade still sparkling in his hand. Harry sent a simple stunner that forced the man to drop the sword to shield and followed it up...

"_Atrax!_" The trash in the alley grew spider legs and threw itself at the old man who raised his hands and called up a shockwave that blew the spiders to pieces and made the buildings shake. "_Tempesto_" Harry called wind to blow the glass and debris back at his attacker but the man ducked to the wall and jabbed his want to the sky.

Harry dodged in time but was still blown to the floor as a lightning bolt shot down from the already bulging sky and blew apart the flagstones under his feet. Harry rolled to his feet as another stabbed down where he had been lying.

Harry dashed towards the man and fired a fireball at his face, following it up with a blistering barrage of hexs and charms. The man had to stop his attack to shield but flicked his other hand into his pocket to draw out small capsule.

What the hell?

With a flick of his wrist the man threw the thing at Harry.

"_Depulso!_" Harry yelled on reflex but it did nothing to stop the thing. "_Geyser_" Harry flicked his wand down and a fountain of water erupted from the ground sending the little thing tumbling into the air.

The man dropped to the floor with his hands over his ears. Harry was about to fire a spell at him when the little capsule exploded with a thunder-clap and a blinding flash of light. Brick ships fountained down on Harry as he was thrown backwards. He looked up in horror as the whole side of the building crumbled, bricks rending in huge cracks and sheeting falling away.

Child!

Harry's eye flickered to the biggest gap just in time to see a bed fall through the crack and get stuck, dropping it's screaming inhabitant from the fifth floor. Harry's had scrabbled for his wand but he was too dazed, too slow. Someone else was faster. The old man darted beneath the falling child and caught him in both arms just as Harry's fingers closed around his wand and swung around...

Wand pointing... Man defenceless... Child screaming in his arms...

They stayed stuck in that tableau for a long heartbeat. Harry could feel his own breathing. The other man couldn't defend himself with his hands full... but on the other hand he had a human shield. Harry could hear panicked cries from above. The muggles would be here soon. The other man just stood motionless. And then, to Harry's amazement, the other man knelt down and laid the child on the concrete before slowly raising to his feet with his hands held out to either side of him.

He had given up his human shield.

"Who the hell are you?" Harry yelled through the rain, keeping his wand trained on the man's chest. "You want to kill me but you do a fireman save on someone else? Why the hell just me?"

The man was silent.

"You'll save everyone but me is that it?"

"I am saving everyone else." The man spoke for the first time, his voice low and oddly accented.

"What?"

"I am saving everyone else." The man repeated. "By killing you."

"_What?_"

"You must die." The man said flatly. "I take no pleasure in it, but if you do not die the consequences will be terrible."

"How the hell does that work?" Harry yelled angrily. "I'm the bloody chosen one here!"

"No. You are not. You are not the chosen one. This we know. But that is not the point." The man's voice was hasty. They could both hear running feet approaching. Harry gritted his teeth. He wanted to stun this guy and take him in... on the other hand, he had saved a kid. On the _other_ hand...

The man's arms came down and the crack of dissapparation filled the alleyway. Harry recovered from his angered shock just long enough to disillusion himself just before the muggles stampeded into the alley. He hid at the side and squeezed out before dashing away along the street. In the rain someone would notice him if he stayed in one place too long. Harry ducked into a doorway and cancelled the spell before sinking to his knees and pushing his head back against the wall, heedless of the rain running down his face.

_I have to die?_

Harry knocked his head against the stone.

_I have to die? Because I'm an abomination._

That was the reason these wierdo's had been after him? They hadn't told him any more than the centaurs and yet... they knew who he really was. They weren't killing him for being Harry Potter. They were trying to kill Jack Malyn.

_Why would anyone want to kill an orphan with no memory?_

Harry smacked his head against the stone again. He had given five bloody and painful years to protecting people and fighting darkness, years he didn't have to give. A fight he hadn't had to be a part of. And for what? For people who save children from certain death to try to kill him.

Tears might have been flowing from his eyes, he couldn't tell in the rain.

Harry pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He had sat like this back before Hogwarts he could remember... of course most of the time he had been smart enough to find somewhere out of the rain. He could remember that time... what kind of life did he lead now that he looked back fondly on being a street urchin? That thought was too bitter to even make him laugh.

Harry rolled his eye to look at the watch in his pocket. He still had ten minutes till his scheduled meeting and he was going to spend at least five of them here in the rain, in the gutter, in a doorway with faded band posters nailed to the chipboard. He didn't care if it made him late, if this doorway was all the world was giving him then he would take it. He had to have something.

Harry curled up and knocked his had back into the corner where the rain was a little less. He closed his eyes and felt the droplets slapping against his coat. He didn't care.

Harry pushed open the door of the Tarot, this time situating itself in a brightly decorated wine bar. He took a calming breath.

"Wet out there." Harry threw a drying charm over his clothes and hair and stepped over to the man he had come to meet. Harry bowed respectfully and forced a fake smile onto his face. "Good evening. Thank you for hearing what I have to say."

The man on the other side of the table nodded faintly to the chair opposite him. Harry sat.

"So..." Harry took a shallow breath. "Shall I tell you about Sasori?"

Hours later Harry sat alone in a side booth of the Tarot. The man he had come to meet was long gone. The meeting had gone well, Harry had said what he needed to say and the man had believed it. He had also given Harry a large bag of gold, but that wasn't important. It had only been important that the man _thought_ Harry wanted money for the information, to conceal the real reason and...

_Oh what was the point?_

Harry took a deep drapht of the drink in front of him. It was on a coaster, as were the two empty glasses in front of him. If he went back to Hogwarts he would have to start being himself again, having people demand things of him, and he wasn't sure he could take that right now.

_Just need to take down Sasori... get back the stone..._

Except after that Voldemort is still out there.

_Snape's dealing with it._

Snape is getting the Hocruxs. Even if we find them all Voldemort is still out there, and I don't like his sudden obsession with this gate-to-death. Let's face it, we're not even close to the end.

Harry finished the rest of his drink and dropped the empty. He shouldn't have another. He was going to have another. He just wanted to spend some time where there was no one demanding anything of him, was that too much to ask? Harry dropped his head to his hands. The only place he could be calm was in a den of iniquity, the hideout of criminals. What did that say?

Harry breathed deeply and drew his orchard projection around him, but it wavered and parts of the Tarot showed through the edges. Harry realized he wouldn't be able to hold it and allowed it to fade. It wasn't real anyway.

Maybe when this is over I can go back there. The thought surfaced in Harry's mind. Going back to the orphanage, living like a muggle. He had no skills or anything but surely they needed janitors... or entertainers. Harry sighed or maybe he would just leave the country. He'd miss his friends, the marauders, Thea... but they'd understand. Take another name... or go back to Jack and just... wander...

Harry dropped his head to the table. Foolish thoughts, there was still book seven before he could think of things like that.

_The thing is... I don't know if I can last that long._

Harry closed his eyes and laid back in his booth. He'd have to last that long wouldn't he? Because that was what he needed to do, what the world asked of him. And he always did what was asked of him. Every _bloody_ time, no matter what. Every _bloody_ time.

"Mr Potter! I didn't expect to see you here."

Harry's eye's shot open in an instance. He hadn't been paying attention. His magic eye had just been rolling in it's socket but now it snapped to attention. His hand jerked to his wand, but as he saw who was approaching him he relaxed. A little.

"Mr James." Harry looked up at the mysterious older man. "Another warning message for me? What's happened now? Sky falling? Hitler back from the dead? New Dido single?"

"Did I not just say I was surprised to see you here?" James slid into the booth opposite Harry. He took a soft sip of his gin and tonic then placed it on the table.

No coaster. Harry tried to remember what gin and tonic meant in the Tarot code.

"Oh, my mistake." James slid a coaster under his drink.

Had that really been a mistake? Was James just having a drink or was he sending a signal? Or did he want Harry to think he was... _Oh who cares._

"Come here often?" Harry asked the man opposite him.

"Occasionally, I mean you have to. To do business." James glanced around. "I was not expecting to see you here though, being one of the virtuous ones."

"Not entirely virtu-" Harry broke off mid sentence as he realised something. He could _see_ James. With both eyes. The old man was actually there, not a projection like before. Harry was shocked for a moment. He was even more shocked that he hadn't noticed. The firelight glinted off the glasses in front of him. Harry closed his eyes and surrounded himself with his orchard, just for a fraction of a second. He tried to pull his mind together before he opened his eyes. "Not entirely virtuous. Just more virtuous than my enemies."

"I've heard you have more than one enemy these days." James said casually. "Dear old Tom Riddle and now you have gone further afield for foes. I knew the dark lord was foolish for putting his trust in mercenaries."

Harry's eye flickered down James' body, looking for anything resembling a clue to his identity. The results were disturbing, almost every bone in the old man's body had been broken years ago, probably at the same time. Even the bones in his skull under his bald head showed signs of healed fractures. It was long ago, they had healed naturally first, then magically later... weird. The guy was stocked to the gills with magical artefacts and amulets too, but that was understandable here. No wand however... that was also odd.

"I don't think he puts trust in anyone." Harry shrugged. "How did you find out they left him anyway?"

"It's more or less common knowledge in my circles." James waved to the bar. "Can I get you another drink."

_No_. "I'll have what you're having." _Why did I say that?_

James motioned to the barman and a moment later Harry was holding a gin and tonic.

"You can relax Mr Potter." James took another sip from his glass. "This is the Tarot remember? No one can touch you here. Not even me."

"Screw it." Harry took a deep swallow of his drink. He paused. "This tastes terrible."

"My apologies. Shall I order you something el-"

"Yes." Harry drained the rest of the glass. "Please."

A glass of white wine appeared in Harry's hand. He sipped it this time.

"Penny for your thoughts Mr Potter?" James asked.

"Why did you come here tonight if you didn't know I was here?"

"You are not the centre of the universe Mr Potter. Despite what many think." James smiled. "I have many other things to manage other than yourself. As to what business I had here? That is none of yours."

"Fair enough." Harry shrugged. James didn't have a wallet in his pocket, not any money either. He hadn't paid the barkeeper for any of his drinks, he must have a tab. No one had a tab at the Tarot. Not unless to _not_ give them a tab would have been dangerous to the proprietors. Who the hell was James? Harry considered for a moment, then abandoned the train of thought. Tonight he wasn't going to try to solve any mysteries, he was just going to relax, drink, and talk to a mysterious stranger who was probably the head of some sort of clandestine crime syndicate. Wait... "So it wouldn't have anything to do with the man who tried to attack me on the way here?"

"Attack you?" James looked aghast. "On the way to the Tarot? That would be terribly bad etiquette. I can't imagine that even the Lie Gou would do that, they would be barred from the establishment, they would loose business."

Harry said nothing. If Sasori had already worked out how to use the stone to turn lead into gold that might not matter.

"Did it look like one of the Lie Gou?"

"No, but they could easily disguise themselves." Harry took a sip of wine. "Didn't fight like one of the Lie Gou."

"Perhaps I can help? What did he look like?" James actually seemed interested.

"Perhaps," Harry hesitated, should he tell James anything else? His fractured brain threw up a red flag, but on the other hand he currently knew sod all about the people trying to kill him. Anything he found out would be helpful. "Oldish, moustache, sounded foreign. Italian maybe..."

"The same person who attacked you with a crossbow earlier this year?"

"No." Harry didn't ask how James knew. "Not the same person, but probably from the same source. The crossbow guy was friends with the centaurs."

"The centaurs would never hire assassins." James waved the comment away. "Not only is it against their laws, they also have too little money. You can't hire killers with acorns and mysticism."

"They weren't assassins, at least not paid ones." Harry thought back to the cryptic comments his attacker had made. "They didn't seem like assassins..."

"Well I can't think who they would be." James shrugged apologetically, but not unhappily. "It would seem you have stumped me. I mean of course there are Italian crime organizations but none of them have any interest in you."

"You know that for certain?"

"Of course." James actually seemed to be relaxing, his elderly frame leant against the table. "Most criminals are looking forward to the removal of Voldemorrt, he is an irritation to so many things."

"Like living."

"Quite."

"There was one other thing..." Harry bit his lip. "In the fight the man went out of his way to save a muggle who got caught in the crossfire. Almost lost the fight because of-"

"No..." James' eyes went wide. "Are you certain?"

"Positive."

"But they... why would they have any reason to attack you?"

"You know who they are?" Harry perked up and tried to sit up straight. His elbow slipped off the table but be righted himself and asked again. "You know who they are?"

"I believe I do..." James regarded Harry quizzically over his glass. "Why would they... but it can't be them. I would almost expect them to be on your side."

Harry said nothing. The men probably _would_ be on the side of Harry Potter. At least James didn't know who he really was. Probably.

"Just tell me who they are." Harry said irritably.

"Oh some fools who think they can save the world." James chuckled under his breath. "Even more deluded than Dumbledore was in many ways. Couching their idiocy in some ridiculous notions of order and chaos and god and... they are ridiculous. Think no more of them. I seriously doubt that they could succeed where Voldemort failed."

"That's comforting. You know what would be more comforting? If you would give me a freekin _name_."

"But the real question is why you?" James tapped his glass thoughtfully. "Yes... yes that is very interesting."

"You can't not tell me." Harry's elbow slipped again, this time knocking over one of his old glasses. "You have to tell me who they are."

"Actually I don't think I will Mr Potter." James chuckled under his breath. "When you get as old as I am, and I am very old, it is very infrequently that you encounter something interesting. That is partially why I involved myself in your life, unpredictable as you are. This question however is even more of a conundrum. No, I believe I will not tell you. Not until I have considered more this intriguing problem. Good evening Mr Potter, it was a pleasure to meet you again." James stood and turned away.

"Hey!" Harry tried to stand but his arm got caught on the table and he fell back into his seat. He tried to ride again and stepped quickly towards the door.

"You're not thinking of following him are you?" A deep growl came from the barman. Following someone leaving the Tarot was as bad as attacking them at it.

"No, just leaving myself." Harry shook his head. He turned back to the table and, a thought springing to mind, leant over and sniffed at James' glass. Still half full. Smelled of tonic. No gin, just tonic.

_Damnit_

Harry turned to leave. At least he was protected by Tarot rules as well. No one would attack him on his way back. The rules stopped him from getting killed, didn't stop him from being played for a fool. Harry stepped out into the rain, letting it run down his face soothingly. He had screwed up badly tonight. He had made mistakes... no. No he hadn't made mistakes. A mistake was when you didn't know that what you were doing was stupid. He had known, and he had done it anyway.

_Why_

Because the world owes me some freakin screw ups. Harry pulled his coat around him and stalked off into the rain. The rules were supposed to protect him, but that didn't mean he didn't watch the shadows all the way home.

"Why do you think Harry brought us all here?" Hermione asked quietly as the rest of the marauders waited in the marauder's attic.

"I don't know. No one knows obviously." Ron said from beside her. "He wasn't in his bed last night, I know that."

"It must be something important to gather us all here like this." Hermione bit one of her fingernails. "Maybe he's found where Voldemort is? Or something about the Lie Gou? I wish he'd tell us what was going on."

"I guess it's harder now." Ron shrugged. "Half the school's marauder. He can't keep us all in the loop. Remember when it was just the six of us? Right in the beginning?"

"Seems like a lifetime ago."

"Kind of does I-" Ron broke off. "Hey, look there..." He pointed.

"Is it Harry? Oh," Hermione shook her head as Draco stepped into the room. He looked as tired as he always did, but it was still a week to full moon. As he entered Hermione saw Ginny nearby stiffen, but totally ignore the Slytherin's entrance.

"Why doesn't she just give up on him?" Ron said angrily. "It's stupid that she's so torn up about it."

Hermione didn't say what she wanted to.

"Anyway Draco's a prat for doing this."

Again, Hermione kept silent. Given that Harry had been gone a lot lately and Ginny hadn't been speaking much Hermione had been spending quite a lot of time with Draco. She had a suspicion that he had his reasons for rejecting Ginny. Or, well the fact that he was a werewolf and...

"HEY MORONS!" The marauders fell silent, turning to see that Harry had materialized. "Sorry, I meant to say 'Can I have your attention?' but somehow it just... well you know how it is. In any case, grab your gear. We're leaving in five to save the world."

"Harry where are we going?" Ginny demanded as the marauders slung their invisibility cloaks on.

"Well first we're going to Wales, to the lake that forms the entrance to the Lie Gou factor house." Harry was strapping a spear-like thing to his hip. "Where we float far above the water like pretty butterflies. Then, at the opportune moment, we fly down through the portal, fly up to the house, go in, find the stone, get the stone. Simple."

"That's your plan?"

"Well they will be a little distracted by that point..."

Harry zoomed his eye down through the darkness. A skirmish of figures were approaching the water, flitting from cover to cover like shadows. They were grouping near the lake, slipping in one by one. Harry's hand tightened on his wand,so it had worked, he hadn't been sure it would.

Usually at this point he would be feeling the rush of adrenalin before a big fight, this time he just felt scared. There were a lot of people behind him who would become very dead if this went wrong. He didn't feel energized, he felt... deadened...

The last of the shadows slunk into the lake. Harry took a deep breath. He flicked his watch out. About two minutes would probably do it.

Harry closed his eyes. The orchard was still there, but the leaves were gone, turned into drifts and mulch on the ground. Harry couldn't tell if the wind blowing through his hair was in the illusion or in reality. It didn't matter. Two minutes were up.

"Down." Harry aimed his broom down and carefully guided it down, with one hand the staff in front of him to aim. The rest of the marauders followed him.

"_Agoredig Ffordd_." Harry whispered to the water's surface. He took a deep breath... "NOW!"

Harry dove his broom forward through the water and straight out the other side. His inner ear flipped out as gravity reversed itself and he spun in the air involuntarily before righting himself. Other marauders shot past him, taking the lead, just like they planned. After all, _he_ wasn't the one you wanted leading an aerial attack.

Harry followed the others, shooting across the still air. Up ahead he could see the temple, it's windows glowing in the night air. Spells and gouts of fire shot into the air all around them. They weren't aimed at them though, they were aimed at the other figures on the ground.

"Works like a charm." Harry muttered through gritted teeth as they shot over the warzone.

"So you started a war between ninjas and _more_ ninjas!"

"Look," Harry look a calming breath. " I met the leader of the Lie Gou at the Tarot." Harry flicked two guns into his inside pockets.

"I thought that was who we were going to attack?"

"Sasori's just their European factor." Two vials of potion and a grenade went into another pocket. "And a very naughty boy for working the Voldemort/philosophers stone angle without cutting his bosses in for a share. They're not happy. They'll be moving tonight to explain their displeasure to him at length."

"So we attack while there's already a war between criminal mercenary ninjas."

"Course." Harry tried to sound more sure of himself than he felt. "So long as there aren't any complications it should go fine."

"Yes!." Her hand curled around the discarded wand. "_Allohamora._" The cell door sprang open, pushing the corpse away. Bellatrix stepped out of her cell and kicked the body before spitting on it as a final insult and moving off, crouched against the wall. These godless mercenaries had kept her imprisoned for days, but it was nothing, she was used to worse prisons. And now they fought among themselves. Useless fools. And now that she was free there would be hell to pay.

Harry crashed through the window and rolled to his feet, wand out. The others had already secured the room but he wanted to be sure.

"Ok, you know your teams." Ginny barked. "Team four, Hold here! Everyone else, GO!" She didn't even wait before dashing off.

"Wait you _suicidal_-" Harry darted after her, cursing. To be fair this _had_ been the plan, in a general sense. Secure a few rooms from the madness and burn a path to Sasori, where they hoped to find the stone, leaving teams along the way to secure a way out. The plan had _not_ been for Ginny to go all death-seeker. "Ginny duck!" Harry reached the girl just in time to tackle her to the floor. A bolt of lightning smashed through the wall, above them. Harry fired back through the hole with one hand, dragging Ginny to her feet with the other.

"What-?"

"I go first!" Harry barked into her face. "I'm the one with the eye! Remember?"

"I-" For a moment it seemed like Ginny was going to fight him. "Fine. Get moving then." The last sentence was said through gritted teeth.

Harry pushed away and surged forward. Draco stepped up next to him and for a moment caught his eye.

_Harry send her back. She shouldn't be here. She's not thinking straight._

_She wouldn't listen_. Harry sent back quickly. _At least here we can keep an eye-_ "SHIELDS!" Harry himself jumped close to Draco, trusting the werewolf's shield far more than his own.

An ark of knives tore through the wall like machine gun fire and a moment later the wall crashed in, filling the corridor with fighting black figures.

"Harry which ones are on our side!" Neville yelled.

"None of them!" Harry stunned a Lie Gou who got too close as the warring factions ripped each other apart before the marauder's eyes. "Just stay back and hit any that notice you or survive!"

_And maybe don't talk?_

Harry was thrown backwards as one of the fighters fired a spell at the sound of his voice. Harry hit the wall and felt his wand jarred out of his fingers. His other hand gripped the spear in his sleeve and had torn it out before he hit the floor. He sent lighting from the tip at his attacker before sweeping it over the other combatants. They fell to the floor like ragdolls and the marauders sent stunning spells to truly send them to la-la-land.

"Team three hold this spot!" Ginny yelled. She darted forward but stopped short at a dead glare from Harry.

Harry turned and grabbed his wand before continuing on, threading his way through bodies. He felt jealous of the others, they could only hear the battles going on all around them, just rooms away. He could _see_ it.

Oh god so much blood...

He had done this. Harry gritted his teeth as he silently led the marauders through passageways away from the main battles. He had done this. He had caused this massacre.

"Two in the next room." Harry didn't even hesitate as he threw the door open and stabbed the lighting spear at one. Draco dropped the other one and Harry just kept walking. There were tables in this room, the remains of a meal. They had just been eating. There were already three bodies in the next room. Well, two and a half.

_I caused this._

"Harry focus!" Draco's voice shocked Harry out of his fugue.

"It's ok. I'm ok." Harry gritted his teeth. Draco narrowed his bloodshot eyes.

_Don't tell me you're going mad too-_

_I'm fine._ Harry continued quietly. "It looks like Sasori's office and stuff is through here. Its at the top of... of like an indoor tower thingy in the middle of a garden. There's a stair around the outside of it. And lots of guards, twenty on the ground, fifteen on the stairway. That I can see anyway. No other way through though."

"Is Sasori there?" Ginny said flatly.

"Can't tell. There's a ward around the top of the tower." Harry looked back over his troops. There weren't many left. They had left a breadcrumb trail of safe zones across the temple, it left them stretched but it was the only way.

"Alright." Ginny said definitely. "Hermione, you keep the rest of them with you and take out everyone on the floor, hold the area. Harry, Draco and me... we go up the tower."

"Ginny-"

"You _know_ that's the best way." Ginny growled. "You have a better plan?"

"That's it." Harry narrowed his eyes. "You're going back. Help hold the last room."

"To hell with you!" Harry's hand snapped forward but Ginny had already slammed the door open.

"Damnit!" Harry's hand flicked into his pocket as thirty-five wands spun towards him. Harry's hand flicked out of his pocket. "_Disperseas!_" Ten grenades fanned out across the room like a spray of death. "_Shield!_"

Draco's shield flashed around him as Harry's thoughts were filled with hatred of everything red-headed and female. The flames consumed the garden but the spells were already hammering down. Harry's eye caught something that made him scream like a banshee.

"NO!" Ginny was shooting into the air, zooming towards the top of the tower! "Who knew she still had her broom!"

"She had it in her bag!" Draco yelled through gritted teeth. "Shield down in three... two... one..."

"_Stupefy!_" Harry had his wand in one hand and the spear in the other. Two shapes rose from the smoke. Two shapes were thrown back in. Harry dashed to the stairs and cursed as he aimed a stunner at a shape leaping out of the darkness. The staircase didn't even have a banister, no protection from the firing below.

"We should take out the ones down here first!" Draco slammed into the wall next to Harry.

"Can't! Stupid Bloody evil _your freekin wannabe GIRLFREIND_ stupid _KILL HER!_" A figure dropped down in front of Harry and he took the opportunity to take out his rage. The figure fell back bloody. "We need to get up there in case she does some -_DIE STUPID EVIL_- she's screwed everything up! Here you shield I'll _kill_. I feel like killing."

Harry edged forward as fast as he was able, cowering under Draco's shield as they advanced up the tower.

Ginny dropped off her broom at the top of the tower and ducked behind a side wall.

She could do this. She could do this alone. She didn't need... Ginny took a deep breath, her heart was racing. Suddenly she was thrown to the floor as the wall exploded outwards above her. Ginny rolled and aimed her wand at the opening, but a moment later another hole appeared right on the other side of the tower. Flashing lights broke from inside the tower and Ginny gingerly snuck up the the hole in the wall. Down below Ginny could hear explosions, the others were fighting. But she didn't need them...

Ginny raised her head a little over the wall and looked over. Inside there was a wide office, desk shattered against the shelves, shelves thrown across the floor, floor on fire. In the middle of the room, circling one another like dogs, a man and a woman, wands poised to fire.

Bellatrix. Bellatrix and Sasori.

"Give me the stone!" The scarred death eater looked rabid, foaming at the mouth and twitching. "Give me the stone or I'll tear you limb from limb!"

Sasori said nothing, but sent a spell bouncing off the wall to catch Bella in the side, throwing up a gout of blood. She was covered in blood but didn't seem to realize it. Sasori was clean and almost smiling. He was winning and he knew it.

Ginny shifted around the outside of the tower. She could finish off Bellatrix (_of course she could..._) but the Lie Gou... If she could take him out first, from hiding, she could take Bella. Then she'd have the stone. She could get it herself.

Ginny tried to work out where the fighters were from the screeches and explosions from inside the office. Why hadn't she got herself an eye like Harry's? She's considered it, why hadn't she done it? Ginny found another break in the wall and raised herself up.

"_Stupid bloody-!_" Harry barged into the Lie Gou in front of him and chucked him off the side of the tower. By now it was a long way down. Harry tried to aim through a haze of pain and forced his feet to climb higher up the tower. "Draco move!" Harry yelled back at the man behind him.

"You go ahead, I'll hold them!" Draco was raining down fire on the fighters below. "You help her!"

"You sure? I'm planning on killing her afterwards."

"Just GO!"

"_Stubefy!_" Ginny felt a cry of victory as the spell smashed into the Lie Gou's back, sending him careening to the floor. "_Avada Kedavra!_" Ginny aimed the curse at the shocked death eater at the other side of the room. Bellatrix threw herself to the side, giving Ginny time to vault the wall and dart forward into the war-torn ruin.

"You?" Bellatrix spat as she pushed herself up from the floor. "Why are you here you muggle loving bitch?"

"Shut up! _Jupitall!_" Ginny sent lightning flying at the death eater and dodged to the body of the Lie Gou on the floor. Pocket. Other Pocket. Inside Pocket- _THERE!_ Ginny's fingers closed around a tiny stone. The philosophers stone, she _had_ it. Ginny rolled behind the remains of the desk to avoid a sickening black curse and jumped to her feet. "Come on! Come on bitch fight! Show me wha-"

The curse hit her in the chest.

Harry's eye saw through stone and flesh to give every hideous detail. His feet faltered on the stairs and he fell to his knees as he saw the spell hit home. The shining red light of the curse radiated out in waves from her chest, meeting her ribs and staving them in, raking through her lungs and slamming into her spine. Breaking it like a twig. Ginny was lifted off the ground and thrown onto the wall behind her. When she hit she didn't hit like a person. She hit like a sack of meat, leaking blood and sliding down the wall before collapsing on the floor.

Harry could hear nothing. The war all around him might as well have been mist. Harry didn't see the last few steps he dashed up like lightning. He didn't see the wall between him and Bellatrix, it broke like glass, sending shards ripping through Harry's skin. It didn't hurt.

_Bellatrix_. In his eyes she was lit up like a Christmas tree, the _only_ thing that mattered in the world.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Hate, rage and darkness flowed out of Harry like a river. The air before him flashed green like lightning. The remains of the wall were stove in and the shattered through the other side, it crushed past the cowering death eater like a freight train. Then, slowly... it disappeared.

"Well well well..." Bellatrix chuckled. "I must say I'm impressed-"

"_Acerbus cuspis!_" Harry charged more hatred and rage into another dark curse, fanning out the spears so the murderer couldn't dodge. Harry's feet bit dirt and he charged towards the bitch. She hadn't even stopped screaming by the time he reached her, slamming his boot into her face. Her scarred head snapped back and Harry dove down, grasping his hands around her neck as hard as he could. He could feel her windpipe crushing under his fingers.

"Ach... a..." Guttural nothing tried to escape from the witches lips. "Ach... a... a." Harry knew he should just use his wand, make it quick, but red dots were spiralling before his eyes and even if he'd wanted to he couldn't have made his fingers move. Bellatrix's eyes rolled back in her skull. The bitch was-

"Aaa!" Harry was thrown backwards as lightning arced from the witches fingers into his chest. Harry could feel his flesh burning, skin searing off. He could feel all sorts of _irrelevant_ things.

"_Crucio!_" Bellatrix croaked. Harry didn't bother to dodge.

"_Excalabus!_" Harry whipped his wand sideways, ignoring the blinding pain. The sword flickered out, burnt forward, flicked back behind Bellatrix's wand. Right through her wrists. One severed hand bounced off Harry's shoulder as he jumped forward, punching the witch to the ground.

"_Accio wand._" Bella's fallen wand flew into Harry's hand. Her hand came with it, but that was a minor detail. Bellatrix sprawled on the floor, screaming, clutching the bloody stumps of her arms to her chest. Harry could hear the screams but they had no effect on him, his mind was drifting...

For a fraction of a second he drew his orchard around him. So quiet, nice and calm... Harry opened his eyes again. He was cold now, the anger was burnt out of him, gone with the darkness. Harry stepped forward, his wand trained on the woman in front of him. He wasn't angry any-more, he didn't really feel anything.

His eyes flickered to movement on the floor. It was Sasori, just recovering from the stunner. The Lie Gou'd eyes flicked up to Harry and his hand flickered into his robe. Before Harry could even think of casting a spell there was a rushing sound and Sasori was gone, portkeyed away.

Harry knew he should care. But he really, really didn't. Harry's eyes flickered back to the screaming woman on the ground in front of him. One of the two last death eaters, the murderous ditch that killed Ginny and so many others. Lying helpless in front of him, ready to drag to justice. He could take her to azkaban and throw her away for good.

Screaming, so much screaming. _Orchard flowed around him_. She would be locked away. _Apple blossoms... Far far away..._ She had been locked up before. It didn't last.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Harry closed his eyes as he spoke the spell, but he saw anyway. Not much to see really. The spell hit home, the force of it pushing her body a few feet across the floor, and her heart stopped beating. That was it. Nothing more. Harry opened his eyes.

The fighting far below was meaningless here... quiet... apple blossoms in the air.

Draco staggered to the top of the tower, retching as he dragged his tired bones forward. The fighting below was almost over, just the marauders mopping up the stragglers and holding the path open for them to get back. He walked carefully over to the office and spun in, wand raised. He saw Bellatrix, dead on the floor, with Harry standing over her. Harry's wand had fallen from his hand and he was just staring at the wall. Draco was about to step over to him when he saw...

"Ginny?" Draco's eyes flashed wide and he dashed to the crumpled form by the wall. "Ginny?... can you hear me?" She was dead, anyone could see-

"Draco..."

"Gin-" Draco crouched down, his face next the barely moving lips. There was nothing he could do, he knew that. Even if the whole staff of St Mungo's was here there would be nothing they could do. Only one thing... "Ginny are you in pain?"

"No..." Just a whisper. "Draco?"

"Yes?"

"I love..."

Draco gritted his teeth. He couldn't cry, not now. He couldn't, he just couldn't.

"I..." Ginny was faltering, drifting away. "I... love y-"

"I know." Draco could feel tears on his cheeks. Damnit. "I..." He paused... too long. "I love you too. I always did." Draco hoped she was too far gone to hear that he was lying.

Ginny's lips twitched, he could tell she was trying to talk, but she just didn't have the strength any-more. He wasn't sure he did either. Instead he leant forward and kissed her softly. She tasted like sour blood, she felt cold. He closed his eyes and felt the tears flowing, dropping off his cheeks and running rivulets down Ginny's face. Little drops cleaning lines in the muck and blood. The lips twitched once more beneath his, then went still. Very... still.

Draco leant back, reached his arms under Ginny and lifted her up. A little red stone dropped from her hand to the floor. Draco hesitated, the temptation to just leave the cursed thing there was almost too much to bear. But then all this was worth nothing. Draco grabbed the thing and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Come on Harry." He found words somewhere in his throat. "Come with me."

Harry's dead eyes came up to meet his and the boy took a stuttering step forward.

"That's right... follow me." Draco walked slowly out of the office towards the long stairway. He looked back and saw Harry following him, still staring deadly ahead. "Good, just keep following me. We have a long walk home."

And I'm carrying her every step of the way.

Even if it breaks my back I'm carrying her.

"All considered," Sasori did not respond to the voice addressing him. "A total failure."

Sasori's only response was to grimace.

"You have lost the philosopher's stone." The old man stated calmly. "And your own usefulness has been severely curtailed. You no longer control the Lie Gou in Europe, indeed the whole organization will be out to kill you."

"You don't seem too upset about all this." Sasori could still taste defeat in his mouth, but he was not about to back down to the man before him.

"Upset? Why would I be upset? I never had any wish for the stone."

"You _are_ an old man." Sasori narrowed his eyes. "Especially old for one of your type."

"Only fools wish to live forever, and I am already far past my time." That infuriating chuckle. "On that note have you given any thought to what you will say to the others of our little circle? There might be some question of whether you have anything to offer us any-more."

"Are you threatening me? I could obliterate you before you blinked an eye."

"Oh come now, there is no need to be unpleasant." The old man spread his hands and smiled. "And you would never obliterate me. You need my protection if you even wish to survive the next twenty-four hours." Sasori's gut twisted. As much as he hated it the man was right. He needed allies, he needed this man or the others would turn on him like wolves. Ha... ironic...

"You are right James." Sasori bowed his head. "I need your help. Tell me what you want me to do, and what you want in return."

"How could you let this happen? How could you send them out there!"

Draco closed his eyes and tried to block out the sound of Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice. He knew he should be saying something, but he didn't have the energy. Besides, the minister's anger was not directed at him.

"You knew this was possible. The death of any one of us is always possible." Snape said harshly.

"She was not one of us!"

Draco shuddered, the marauders return to Hogwarts had been terrible. The order had been meeting and he had been able to carry Ginny's body directly into her brother's arms. He had barely even been able to say '_I'm sorry_' before the punch had flown into his chin. He hadn't tried to fight back. The second punch had broken his nose, the marauders pulled the crying Weasley off him after that but after that the order had exploded, turning on each other, and the marauders, like jackals. They were splintered now, the arguments spilling into different rooms but Draco didn't know if it was any better.

"You knew I was keeping the marauders ready." Snape continued.

"As a last resort! For cases like the ministry last year when all other hope is lost." Shacklebolt's fists were clenching. "Not_ active_, not invading a fortified-"

"It was my decision as leader of the order." Snape interrupted angrily.

"Well I think we can safely say that that is over."

"That is not your decision-"

"If I put it to the vote what do you think the result will be." Shacklebolt jerked his head and two aurors appeared at his shoulders. "Mr Snape-"

"_Professor_ Snape." Snape hissed the word like a curse.

"I assume your professorship will also soon end. Since you will not be able to teach from Azcaban."

Draco started to his feet but a stern glance from Snape sent him back to his seat.

"Am I to be told what I am being arrested for?"

"Endangering a minor. Negligence leading to death and so many other things." Snacklebolt's voice was low and dark. "Dumbledore was wrong ever to trust you. We all were."

"If I had not acted the consequences would have been far far worse."

"Perhaps the Wizengamot will see it the same way." Shacklebolt gestured to his aurors. "Although I sincerely hope not. I assume you are going to come quietly."

"Running would indicate I had something to be guilty about." Snape thrust his hands out sharply. "I assume you want my wand."

Draco shook his head, he had to do something. But Snape must have seen the look on his face because he calmly turned to him and said, as the aurors shackled him,

"Perhaps you should check on your friends Mr Malfoy."

"But-"

"Go Draco." Snape allowed himself to be lead away by the aurors. He looked back over his shoulder. "And if you would take care of Harry I would appreciate it."

The door slammed closed and Draco felt his heart drop. It was like the whole world was falling apart.

_Harry._

Yes, Harry. He needed to find Harry. Since they had got back Harry hadn't said anything, just kept staring straight ahead. Draco would have tried legilimency but everything had happened so fast. Harry was weak, vulnerable, clearly going through something terrible. He had to take care of him. Draco grasped that thread like a lifeline and walked out of the room. Anything to not think of everything else-

"How could you let this happen!" Draco didn't look across from the door to where the Weasley clan was clustered. The twins were just sitting, almost as blank as Harry, Ron was crying into his hands. William Weasley was yelling. "When mum and dad wake up what am I going to tell them? It was my job to keep you safe!" The older boy was tearing up. "I was supposed to keep you safe..."

Draco tore his gaze away from the tragedy and kept walking. Harry had been in the Hospital wing. Draco could still hear the yelling from behind him. Block it out. Up stairs. Turn left.

Draco was at the door to the hospital wing when-

"Draco!" Draco whirled and tensed when he saw Hermione running towards him. "Do you know where McGonagall is?"

"I... No. Why?"

"They... they called my parent. They called all our parents." Hermione kept pulling on a long lock of her hair in panic. "They're taking me away, they're taking me out of Hogwarts. They can't do it! I don't want to but... McGonagall must be able to stop them, she can stop them all-"

"All? What do you mean all?"

"All the parents are here, aren't you listening!" Hermione was breathing hard, on the edge of tears. "All the marauders. Our parents are all here, they're taking us out. All of us! There must be something we can do-"

"Draco." Draco spun again as the door to the Hospital wing was pushed open and Draco saw Pythea stepping out. She didn't look as frantic as Hermione but on the seer's, usually unflappable, countenance it looked even worse. "Do you know where Harry is?"

"Pythea!" Hermione spoke before Draco could even open his mouth. "Do you know where McGonagall is?"

"Try the great Hall." Pythea said distractedly. "Have you seen Harry."

"I thought he was in there- Hey wait!" Draco called after Hermione as she tore off down the corridor. "Damnit, He isn't in there?"

"No," Pythea looked scared, her odd eyes were wide. "Someone thought they saw him walk out but no one tried to stop him."

"I... damn." Draco put his fingers to his temples. The world was ending. Everything was falling apart. _Find Harry_. "Alright, just give me a second..." Draco got down on his hands and knees and sniffed deeply.

Hundreds of feet travelled these halls but Draco knew Harry's scent. The few benefits of being a werewolf.

"He went this way." Draco led the way slowly along the passageway.

"Can you not go quicker?" Pythea asked angrily.

"Can't you just scry him out?" Draco shot back.

"No I can't!" Pythea almost shouted. "I can't see _him_, I never could, that's the point. _Please_ hurry!"

Draco reached a staircase and hurried down. Another stair, Draco sniffed... yes. Down those too. Corridor... dammit. Draco followed the trail all the way to the great door of Hogwarts. The trail went right out the door, straight outside.

"But gran!" Draco's head came up as he heard Neville's voice. "I need to stay here, these are my friends!" The marauder was being hurried along by an older lady, his grandmother.

"Your friends? Friends don't get friends killed!"

Draco doubled over. That had felt like an actual blow. He should have been faster climbing the tower. He should have brought his own broom so he could follow her. All his fault.

He shouldn't have let her come in the first place. They all knew she was depressed. That was his fault too, if he wasn't so _wrong_ she would still be alive. If he wasn't twisted, disgusting. His father had been right, he was useless... it was-

"The trail Draco!" Pythea's voice seemed to hit his legs before it reached his brain and he was already moving before it even registered. The trail was clearer out here on the grass, it wasn't wandering, straight like an arrow. Straight to the edge of the forbidden forest. Draco straightened up, his face ashen. "He went inside."

"But he knows the centaurs will kill him if they find him in there." Pythea was shaking her head in horrified disbelief.

"I don't think he even knows his name right now." Draco sniffed again and hurried forward at a loping run. Behind him he could hear the seer following him. Harry wasn't making any attempt to hide his path, it was plain as day. But that meant it was plain as day for the centaurs as well. Draco tried to tell himself that the bigger trail meant they were closing in on him. Tried...

"Is... is he close?" Pythea panted from behind him.

"Yes." Draco lied. All he could hear was his own breath in his ears and his beating heart. Sniff. Trail. Run.

"Stop!"

Draco skidded to a halt.

"What?"

"This is it. He's here." Thea began looking around, glancing behind trees. "Spread out he's somewhere here."

"How do you know?"

"All of these are apple trees."

"Ah, right." Draco took a deep breath in. Yes, Harry's scent was deeper here. The seer was right. And the smell was deepest coming from... "Harry! Thea I've got him." Draco dashed over to where Harry was propped against the trunk of a tree. His eyes still had that glassy, far away, look. But at least he turned to face them as they walked up to him.

"Harry?" Pythea crouched down next to Harry. "Are you here?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded slowly. "I think so... it's hard to tell."

"Why did you run into the forest?" Draco asked.

"I... I don't remember doing that." Harry shook his head. "I just... I was thinking about trees..."

"Well, we found you." Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Lets get back."

"Back?" Harry tensed, a fraction of his usual hardness returned to his eyes. "Back to Hogwarts."

"Yes."

"Ginny's dead."

"Y... yes."

"Voldemort's alive."

"Why are you asking me that?" Draco shook his head, trying to make sense of Harry's questions.

"I killed Bellatrix. Just killed her."

"It was self defence." Pythea said soothingly.

"No it wasn't." Harry was breathing harder. "I cut off her hands then I killed her. She was screaming before, she wasn't screaming after."

Draco swallowed roughly. He didn't know what to say to that.

"I saw her heart stop. Not Ginny's, Bellatrix's. Saw her hit the wall, except that it was her not... Her heart just stopped." Harry seemed to be drifting from thought to thought. "Saw her spine snap."

"Let's go back to the castle." Pythea said desperately. "Come on Harry-"

"Harry?" Harry spat the name out. "Harry? That's not me. Harry's dead. I wish he was alive, wish it were him here instead of me. The chosen one, must be strong or have some crazy power. I don't, I've got nothing... Maybe he would be strong enough. But I'm not, I'm just _not_."

"Ha- Jack?" Pythea leant forward. "We can get through this, together."

"No Thea." A tear ran from Harry's eye. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. But I can't do this any-more. I'm sorry but... It's too much. I'm broken. Something in me's broken."

"Harry?"

"I can't. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Harry's tearful eyes met the seers. "Goodbye Thea."

"NO!" Pythea lunged forward but she was too slow, the forest rang with the crack of a rough apparition. A flock of birds took flight from the trees around, dappling them in shadow for a moment, then they were gone. And so was Harry.

The world was broken. Everything had fallen apart.

Draco kept expecting him to reappear, with a joke perhaps, or for it all to be a trick. But it wasn't, and he wasn't. Beside him Pythea was just staring at the space Harry had been. The silence drew on, Draco didn't want to be the first one to speak, that would make it real.

"I..." Draco licked his lips. "I didn't know he could apparate."

"He was having lessons." Pythea sounded small. Small and broken.

The silence returned, dragging on forever. Draco broke it again, the words feeling like lead.

"So what... what do we do now?"

"I don't know." Pythea was shaking. "I just don't know..."


	57. Three Mysteries: 1

Harry Potter and the Tree Mysteries Chapter 1: Time

Part 1: Draco Malfoy

"Two cups of coffee please, one black one white."

"What kind of coffee?"

"There are kinds?"

The muggle behind the country smiled at Draco and turned towards the Victorian torture device/coffee machine behind her. After a loud interim he took the cups and walked back to a corner table. The muggles around him didn't give him a second glance, he had mastered blending into non-magical society. The man he was meeting, not so much.

"I was surprised to receive your letter." Draco sat down and sipped his drink. "Your trial has been heavily publicized."

"I was not deemed a flight risk, bail was not terribly high." Snape emptied a sachet of sugar into his coffee. "So long as I do not leave the country or commit any more crimes like defending the world against evil."

"I wouldn't be so glib if I were you. From what I read you're loosing."

"I am not loosing, this is a tactic." At Draco's incredulous expression Snape nodded. "I plan to simply drag the trial out until the dark lord returns, at which point I assume it will be a moot point."

"And if he doesn't return." Draco said pointedly. "It's been almost six months Professor. The minister for magic had declared that he is dead, we have a new bank holiday to prove it."

"Shacklebolt is wrong." Snape said bitterly. "He is wrong."

"Do you have any evidence to support that statement?"

"I have enough of lawyers in court, I do not need it on weekends too." Snape snapped. "He is alive. He _is_ alive. He will return and there will be hell to pay. People have to remember, people have to stay vigilante, they have to be reminded."

"Hence the second reason you are dragging your trial through the media." Draco guessed. "You know that this strategy could backfire on you spectacularly?"

"None of that will matter when the dark lord returns."

"_If_ he returns."

"You want proof?" Snape said angrily. "_Here!_" Snape reached into his robes and pulled out a mangled, ring shaped, piece of metal, dropping it with a crack on the table. Draco leant over and picked up the object, there was some kind of symbol on the front... an eagle... wait...

"Is this...?"

"Yes." Snape smiled, for the first time since he had walked into the café. "The diadem of Ravenclaw."

"Merlin's beard... it's a shame it is so damaged."

"It was also a Hocrux." At Snape's words Draco froze then carefully placed the mangled ring back on the table. "I was searching for it, following along the dark lord's life, I was at Hogwarts and... in any case, the circumstances are not important. The important thing is that it is destroyed, there is one left. While there are _any_ left the dark lord will remain."

"You should have called me." Draco handed the diadem back to the lapsed Professor. "_Fiendfyre_ is dangerous."

"Which is why I did not use it." Snape reached back into his pocket and drew out a sheathed knife, clicking the blade out a little so Draco could see it. It looked ancient, the hilt was leather and had almost totally worn away. And the blade was stained with old blood and it looked like...

"A tooth." Draco raised his eyebrow. "A basilisk's tooth?"

"Michelson acquired it for me in Mexico. It can be used to destroy Hocruxs." Snape snapped the blade back into it's sheath. "I need you to hide it for me, I clearly cannot be found with it and most of the people I trust are also being watched."

"You think I'm not?" Draco rolled his eyes in irritation, but pocketed the dagger. "So you went to Hogwarts? I assume you were not greeted with open arms."

"I was not greeted at all." Snape cupped his hands around his coffee. "But the security is much less than it was."

"How is Hogwarts?"

"Empty."

"Well I knew _that_."

"It will open again, in time. Probably."

"Probably?"

"There are things more important than the school!" Snape snapped irritably. He was hunched over the table. Draco could almost see the frayed nerves behind Snape's eyes as the old professor slid a thin file across the table towards him. "There is one last Hocrux. I have no more leads and my trial is coming to a stage where they will not want to let me out of their sight. I need you and the marauders to continue-"

"There are no more marauders, _remember?_" Draco cut in. "Their parent's were among the first to clamour for Hogwarts to be shut. Home school and a very short leash is the marauder life now."

"You have persevered against worse."

"Everyone has their limit." Draco sighed. "At some point, everyone stops fighting..." A silence grew between them... then,

"No news of him?"

"Don't you think I would have mentioned if there was?" The silence came back... Draco finished his coffee and stood. He put his hand on the file. "I'll look into the Hocrux. Me. Alone. I can't promise anything else."

"I realise that Draco." Snape stayed sitting. "And thank you for the coffee."

"Good luck with the trial." Draco hesitated. "Are you sure you don't want a better lawyer-"

"A poor one serves my purposes better currently." Snape grimaced. "It gives me more grounds for continuances."

Draco wanted to way more but he was almost late for his other meeting today, so instead he stepped out of the café. Three blocks and a alleyway and Draco scrunched his body into the rough transition of apparition, dropping back to his feet in another alleyway. Stinking alleyway after stinking alleyway... Draco shook his head. He brushed himself off and stepped out, almost bumping into a gaggle of muggle teenagers. They ignored him, continuing on their way. Draco went in the opposite direction to them, walking slowly. He passed more muggle children, telling him he was going in the right direction. All coming home from the same school.

Draco spied one up ahead that was walking alone, away from the others. Draco slowed down as she approached, then turned to walk beside her.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Hermione said quietly, too soft for the muggles around to hear.

"I had a lunch meeting." Draco replied simply.

"Did you bring the things I asked for?"

Draco reached into his bag and brew our three large books. They _looked_ like chemistry textbooks. He handed them over wordlessly and Hermione pushed them quickly into her already overloaded bag.

"And this..." Draco slid a thick pencil out of his breast pocket. "Dragon heart-string, like your old wand. Do not under any circumstances attempt to sharpen it."

"Do you know what happened to my old wand?" Hermione sounded like she hadn't slept well. Draco thought for a moment of asking to carry her bag, then stopped himself. At this point anything that could even vaguely be construed as patronising was probably not a good idea.

"It was put in storage by the ministry." Draco answered simply. "For you to collect when you become an adult."

"I'm already seventeen!" For the first time emotion entered Hermione's voice.

"It's the law." Draco shook his head. "In conflicts between the magical and muggle worlds you have to be adult in both of them to choose between them. Until than your parents get to decide. You know that Hermione-"

"I don't belong here Draco." Hermione hugged her arms tightly around her. "I want to go home!"

"Hogwarts you mean?"

"Anywhere!" Hermione shook in exasperation. "I have to act like a muggle, you don't know what it's like to have to hide what you really... oh..."

Draco bit his lip. She was looking at him, it was showing on his face. She was opening her mouth to talk. She was probably going to try to be comforting again. Draco schooled himself quickly and said,

"It's just one more year."

"I'm in _remedial_ classes. Did I tell you that last time." Hermione said angrily. Draco stayed silent. She had but... "Because I haven't done maths or English or physics for years. I could turn them all into toads but they put me in the bottom class... And by the time I can enter the magical world again I'll be a year behind that too!"

"You won't be really." They were still walking, but slowly. Hermione was obviously trying to drag the walk out as long as possible. "Hogwarts isn't open, there won't be any newts this year."

"It's still not open?" Hermione asked.

"One of the books I just gave you has the past few weeks of daily prophet in it."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled. "I don't know what I'd do if you weren't visiting."

"Aren't any of the other Marauders?"

"Some of them. When they can get away." Hermione seemed to retreat back into her jacket. "I talk to Split on msn."

Draco didn't ask.

"I just... I miss. I miss my life."

"Join the club." Draco said it out loud this time. "Join the bloody club-" Hermione stopped and turned to him.

"Are you ok Draco?"

"As good as a werewolf can be." Draco answered darkly.

"No, I meant about... about Ginny." At Draco's pointed silence Hermione continued. "I know you blame yourself-"

"Bellatrix. I blame Bellatrix." Draco snapped. "And I wish I had got to her before Harry did."

"Is there any news of-"

"No." Draco was tired of saying that.

"Well..." Hermione put her hand on Draco's shoulder. "If you _do_ want to talk."

"I don't. Not about that anyway. But I know where to find you if I think of anything else." Draco put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a folded scrap of paper. "And if you ever want to contact me. Here."

"Is it a protean? Or maybe a-"

"It's a phone number Granger." Draco rolled his eyes. As he turned away he was happy to see a fleeting smile appear on his friend's face. At least he had done one worthwhile thing today then.

Draco made his way back to a safe apparition point and scrunched himself down again. Every time made his bones ache a little more. These days it seemed like it was almost always either too soon after the last full moon or too close to the next. Draco had to lean against the wall as he apparated into diagon alley. Just one more errand before he went home...

Draco dropped onto the grass outside Malfoy Manor and instantly realised that he was not alone. Wolf instinct collided with marauder training for a frantic moment before Draco noticed the auror robes on his visiter. He relaxed, a little.

"Mr Malfoy." The visitor said cheerily. "I was just about to leave, glad I caught you."

You've been waiting here for me at least an hour Draco measured by the latent scent on the air. But he said nothing.

"Did you want sommething?"

"No no, just a message for the Pythea. I understand she's living here. The minister wants to consult with her, her precognitive talents you understand."

"Thea isn't taking visitors now." Draco answered levelly. "Otherwise she would have answered the door herself. She's been sick these past few weeks."

"Oh dear, is it anything serious?"

"She's seen some healers, they recommend rest." And he had medical records to prove it should anyone ask. "It may be psychological, the stress of Harry leaving."

"Of course, of course." The pompous idiot replied. "Well would you give her this letter for the minister?"

"Certainly." Draco took the envelope and watched as the auror loft his property before pushing the door open and going inside. He walked to Pythea's room and placed the letter atop the existing pile of unopened letters. Other than them and the furniture, the room was entirely empty.

Draco reached into his pocket and drew out the bank statement he had received from gringots. There had been a withdrawal in Rio-de-Janeiro yesterday. Draco nodded faintly, trying to feel like this was good news. So long as she was still withdrawing the search was still going, and while the search was going, there was a chance... there was a chance...

"Either of them." Pythea held out the two pictures to the man selling ice cream on the beach. Language was no barrier, her Portuguese was probably better than this man's. "Probably in the last month." The man looked from one picture to another. No telling whether Harry was travelling as Harry or Jack. Or as someone completely different.

"I don't know." The man shrugged and snorted. "Too many tourists, can't remember all of them."

"They wouldn't have been tourists. Not like these people at least." Thea waved her hand over the sunbathers. "He would probably have juggled, or maybe played the guitar."

"Which guy?"

"Both of them." Pythea corrected herself. "But they weren't travelling together."

"Er... yeah... yeah... this guy." The ice cream seller pointed to the picture of the undisguised Jack. "I think, might have been someone who looked like him."

"Do you remember anything else about him?"

"Are you gonna buy some ice cream?" Pythea bought some, paid with a note and asked the man to keep the change. "Yeah, yeah, he used to juggle up and down this beach, for the tourists. Mostly at night. I sell burgers at night."

"When did you last see him?"

"Couple of weeks ago." The fat man scratched his head. "He wasn't here long."

"Did he say where he was going or-"

"I never spoke to him. Don't know if anyone else did either. Ever."

Pythea thanked the man and stepped away down the beach. As soon as she was out of sight she dropped her ice cream into a trash can. It was engulfed by seagulls in an instant.

So Harry had been here. Thea glanced over at the broadwalk. There were one or two entertainers there now, a mime, a magician further down. It was easy to imagine Harry standing in that lineup Thea thought as she stepped closer. Probably standing _here_. So he could get away down _that_ street if there was trouble but where he could still get coins for his performance from the passers by. Pythea found herself reaching out unconsciously towards her imagined shadow on the scene before her. She shook her head, pointless.

She set off towards the mime, perhaps the other performers knew where Harry had stayed while he was here. And from that... well. Pythea breathed the ocean air deeply. She had to find him. Somehow she had to find him.

From far above, a dot in the sky riding on the thermals, beady eyes watched her.

* * *

Part 2: Hermione Granger

Hermione looked left towards a random, uniform and unremarkable street then right towards an equally unremarkable street. She sighed and turned right. The park was that way at least. She was still _technically_ walking home from school, she was just taking a... a... a _scenic_ route.

And avoiding going home.

The books Draco had given her were in her bag, they hadn't left her person since she had got them three days ago. If her parents found them she'd lose everything, probably wouldn't even be able to use the phone. She'd loose all link to the magical world. Hermione's hand tightened around the pencil in her pocket. It was a _terrible_ wand, it barely did what she wanted it too and when it did it was weak. It was also all she had.

Hermione took the wand out of her pocket and tried to summon a piece of trash. It did jump into the air, but it dropped down again before it reached her hand. A cat across the street stared at her, it actually seemed to be mocking her. Hermione used the tiny amount of legillimancy she knew and pushed into the cat's eyes. Not an animagus. Just a cat. Hermione sighed and walked on, the piece of trash crunched under her shoe. The streets seemed empty, after the school rush and before the work rush. Hermione shook her head, she should go home. She couldn't let her parents get suspicious.

Across the street the cat stiffened suddenly, hissed, and shot away, dissipating between two houses. Hermione was hadn't been going muggle long enough to ignore a something like that. She drew her wand back out and whispered a detection spell. There was a fizzle and some bedraggled feathers were spat out of the end of her wand. Damn _wand_.

A dog began barking suddenly. In a back yard somewhere, she couldn't see it. The bark was cut off sharply with a yelp. Hermione slowly reached up and pushed her heavy bag off her shoulders. There... the gap between two houses. A dark silhouette, oh god it was bigger than a troll! Hermione dropped her bag into a front garden and ran, dashing along the empty street and spinning around the corner into an alleyway. She couldn't hear it following her, Hermione risked a glance behind her and almost tripped. It was right at the corner behind her! Whatever it was was totally silent!

Not a troll. Hermione's frantic brain sparked as she ran. Too slow. Gone too soft. Too much muggle life. Not an ogre either. Not anything bestial, that would make noise. Hermione mentally scrapped three bestiaries in her head and moved on to a demonary. She shot across a street and only just avoided being blind-sided by a car. The horn was shocking loud in the world of silence. Hermione kept running. A moment later there was the louder sound of rending metal and the screech of tires. The thing had hit the car, or maybe just swiped past it.

So it was a corporal creature, Hermione retreated into knowledge. That meant it wasn't a spectre or a-

"_Protego!_" Hermione ducked under her pitiful shield and hoped it would hold as a clawed fist slashed at her on the end of an inhumanly long arm. She could see through it, it was shadowy, she could see right through the dark hand curling around her shield. Cracking, cracking- her shield was cracking! Hermione leapt backwards as it shattered around her, she stabbed her wand forward. "_Stubefy!_" It just vanished as it flew into the darkness. What would _hurt_ this thing? "_Expecto Patronum!_"

Hermione staggered to her feet as her patronus flung itself up. The thing flinched, it's black bulk blacking out the sun. Hermione dashed away, hoping her glowing otter could keep it at bay until-

The silver light went out.

Hermione risked a look behind her in time to see a silver flicker dissipating into the maw of the dark creature. She pelted around the corner, firing another partonus behind her and screeching to a halt. Dead end. No...

Hermione turned, trapped. What would hurt this thing? A patronus just slowed it down, what could stop it? Kill it? No spell she could think of would work on something like this. Nothing. The light of her Patronus flickered and died. A clawwed hand grasped the edge of the building and pulled the beast around. She saw it clearly for the first time, a hunched, demonic mass of churning shadows. Like a flock of swallows pushed into a rough, man-shaped mould. It reached one clawed hand towards her-

"_Avada Kedavra._" Hermione's weak shuddered and cracked in her hand as the curse surged out. The green bolt struck the creature in the chest and the shadows rushed in, surrounding the deathly glow like piranhas. A moment later the death curse was gone and the beast straightened again.

Even the killing curse had done nothing.

Hermione backed away until she hit the wall of the alley. She was trembling. Nowhere left to go. No wand, no escape. The creature pulled it's arm back and curled it's claws into a fist. The shadows gathered in it's hand like they were expecting a feast.

"What are you?" Hemione's lips whispered uncontrollably. "What _are_ you?"

_It's dead of course. The veil._

The thought came like a bullet out of nothing. She threw herself sideways as the fist smashed into the wall behind her, splintering brick and sending the shadows flying.

"_Abi in malam rem!_" Hermione shouted desperately, screaming the only exorcism she had ever studied. Her ruined wand shattered in her hand, driving splinters into her skin. The creature reeled back like it had been struck, then exploded, it's shadows loosing all shape and flying out like wisps of angry cloud.

Hermione leapt to her feet and dashed away, pushing through the swarm as the sprites bit at her. Before she had even reached the end of the alleyway an arm coalesced before her, grabbing at her. It was already reforming. She hadn't been able to outrun it before, she thought as she dashed away, but maybe the aurors would come, or something.

She dashed out of the alley and back onto streets. No gaps between the houses. No other exits. Hermione ran along the road as fast as she could. She risked a look behind her, it hadn't emerged from the alleyway. She could feel her legs giving out. It still hadn't come out of the alleyway. She had to stop, leaning panting against a lamp-post. It still hadn't come out.

Hermione's brow furrowed, surely it would have caught up to her by now. There was still nothing from the alleyway, perhaps she had hurt it more than she thought?

Hermione bit her lip. The smart thing to do would be to find her way back to her bag, then go home. That would be the smart thing to do. And she was always smart... Hermione took a hesitant step back towards the alleyway. This was really stupid, almost something Harry would do...

Poised to dash at any moment Hermione slowly closed in on the alley opening. She couldn't hear anything, but then she hadn't when it was standing in front of her. She reached the corner and looked around quickly.

Nothing there.

Slowly growing more confident, Hermione walked into the dark alleyway and back to where she was cornered. There was nothing there, just the wreckage of the fight. Hermione was about to turn away when she saw a black mark on the floor. A star shaped burn, like something had flamed hot and fast right there. What could have-

Police sirens broke through her thoughts and forced her to dash the other way again, as fast as she could.

"Where have you been young lady?! And what happened to you?!"

"Where do you think." Hermione narrowed her eyes with exactly the right amount of faked teenage petulance. "I got beaten up! I'm in the bottom class with the idiots and they hate me and _they_ think _I'm_ stupid. I hate this school!"

Hermione stormed to her room and slammed the door. She made sure to drop her bag heavily on the floor like a moody teenager. Well... hopefully they had believed that. God knows it was likely enough.

Harry always said the most useful thing anyone could know was how to lie.

Hermione reached back behind her computer and pulled the phone line out of her modem. She pulled the normal line out of her phone and swapped the two. Too much risk otherwise, her parent's could pick up the phone and hear her talking about magic...

She pulled Draco's number out of her pocket and hurriedly tapped it into the phone.

_Ring... Ring..._

Pick up Draco...

_Ring... Ring... Click._

"Yes?"

"Draco it's me." Hermione whispered, putting her head under her duvet to muffle the sound. "Hermione."

"There's something wrong isn't there." Draco didn't waste any time.

"I was just attacked." Hermione said quickly. "Some sort of shadow creature. It was dead, as big as a troll-"

"Lots of shadows all pushed in inside a shell?"

"Yes! Were you attacked too? Are you alright?"

"Nothing attacked me, but the aurors have seen them." Draco sounded tired. "I've been talking to people, keeping myself informed. These '_shadow beasts_' popped out of nowhere a few days ago. Some of them just watching, seems like they can be any shape or size. One person is dead, ministry employee."

"This one was definitely after me." Hermione tried keep her voice quiet as she spoke. "It was ignoring the muggles, everyone else, it was definitely after me. They could be after the rest of the marauders. I managed to do an exorcism but it only stopped it for a moment and it broke my wand."

"I'll bring you another one." Draco sounded reassuringly... reassuring. "How did you get away?"

"I... I don't really know. I ran away, and then it was gone." Hermione paused. "I went back to see what had happened," Hermione was waiting for the '_that was stupid_'. It didn't come. "Anyway it was gone, there was just a star-shaped burn mark on the floor."

"Like a phoenix."

Dead silence. Hermione could hear the faint buzz of the static on the line and her parents shuffling around downstairs.

"Yes, exactly like a phoenix would leave." Hermione licked her lips. Neither of them really wanted to say it...

"We can't know what it was." Draco said definitely. "I'll warn the rest of the marauders that they may be attacked." There was another pause, then. "Are you hurt?"

"Not, really. Scrapes and bruises from running."

"Do your parents suspect?" Draco had a good grasp of her priorities.

"No, I don't think so."

"Good, you know if you want-"

"Hermione!"

"Have to go." Hermione hung up her phone and hid it under her bed-clothes. She only just had enough time to pull the doorstop out before her mother pushed the door open.

"We've called the school." Hermione had never really realised how patronising her mother was until this year. "We're going in to talk to them about the other student's bullying you. We'll get this all straightened out ok?"

Hermione nodded.

"Do you know the names of the kids who are bullying you?"

Hermione nodded. She'd have to throw someone over the fire but it was better than being discovered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dear god she was patronising. And stupid. Her mother knew that Hermione had debt with far worse than bullies, that was the main reason they had dragged her out.

"No mum." Hermione tried to make it look like she was sad, not angry. "I've got homework to do. I'll be down for diner. We should watch that tv show tonight, the one with the meercats."

Homework was a very _old-Hermione_ thing to do. Dinner was for family, and tv was something distinctly muggle. It was a sentence pinpointed to placate, Harry would be proud. Hermione could see her mother smiling as she closed the door. Hermione rolled her eyes and lay back on her bed.

Why couldn't she go home...

That night, far after her parents had gone to sleep Hermione pushed the latch of the door open and crept downstairs slowly.

It was a testament to how stupid she had been that this was _not_ the stupidest thing she had done today.

Hermione pulled her coat on and buttoned it up before slipping out the front door. It didn't take her long to make her way back to where the creature had first found her. She stood on the cold, dark street and thought back. It had come from over there, beyond the houses.

Hermione traced back and managed to find the street on the other side. She glanced from side to side and tried to trace the path it would have taken. It would have come from there, over there. Hermione bit her lip. She really wished she had a wand. Maybe a detection spell...

No. If that could track these creatures then the aurors would have done it.

Hermione stepped over to look near the house it would have to have come from. There was nothing to see, no trace. Hermione picked her way along the drive and into the back garden of the house, praying that they didn't have burglar alarms. The back garden was pitch black. Hermione pulled a small torch out of her pocket and muffled it with her hand before slowly looking around the suburban lawn. At least it wasn't cluttered.

Squirrel, dead squirrel. Hermione lit it with her torch, it's eyes were bulging out in fear. It didn't have to have been the creature, it could have been the cat. It could also have been the creature.

Dead things... it didn't leave footprints, but it left dead things. Now that she was looking she could see another clue. Insects. Not the living ones buzzing over the squirrel, the dead ones in the grass. Hermione straightened up and slowly made her way to the back of the garden. Her feet scrabbled on the fence and she climbed over, hoping the neighbouring family didn't have a dog.

Wait... if they had a dog it would be dead.

And there was a dead bird in the middle of the lawn. Hermione dropped down and made her way forward. This was incredibly stupid. Too bad she was past caring.

"Draco?"

"Hermione? It's four in the morning."

"I know. Listen-"

"I can hear waves. Where are you?"

"The sea, it walked right out. You can see where all the dead fish have washed up on shore."

"It?"

"The creature. Please Draco, just listen to me, I don't have time to explain. I've been walking all night through fields and I need to find a taxi if I want a _chance_ of getting home before my parents wake up."

"Alright, Alright, why did you call?"

"You said you were going to bring me a wand? Well I need something else too."

"What?"

"I need a broom."

* * *

Part 3: Ron Weasley

Ron had his wand in his hand, not really expecting to use it any-more just happy it was there. There were a lot of aurors around the burrow but it didn't matter, he still wanted his wand. They were clustered around down by the road, that was where it had come from. Middle of the night there had been a crash that had woke everyone up then wards had _burned_.

Somewhere behind the ward there had been something huge. They couldn't see it in the darkness but they could see the ward bending in, right on the edge of breaking. That had been terrifying. Seeing the second one hitting the wards from the other side? That had been worse.

It had taken him and the twins a shaking minute to chant the exorcism, the most powerful one they had found, all the time with Bill yelling at them demanding to know what they were doing. Keeping chanting as the wards buckled was one of the hardest things... Ron shook his head, it was over now. Thank merlin they had known what Hermione had found out, if they hadn't then they'd probably be dead.

"He's talking to Bill now." Fred said quietly, pointing over at where Kingsley Shacklebolt was standing. "Any ideas about how we're gonna explain what we did?"

"I dunno." Ron shook his head. "We could just tell them we guessed it was dead? That we remembered the exorcism from a book somewhere?"

"Bit thin." George was watching the other way, at the aurors still coming in and out of the house. Searching. "Maybe we tell them we learnt it from Michelson."

"Still doesn't explain how we knew to use it." Fred scratched his head.

"How much longer are they gonna keep us." Ron checked his watch quickly. "We're gonna be late for-"

"For nothing." George jabbed Ron in the ribs sharply. "For absolutely nothing on the planet except a giant box of _shut up_."

"Heads up he's coming." Fred straightened as the minister for magic stepped towards them. Ron straightened involuntarily, the twins remained slouched.

"It's good to see you all again, safe." Shacklebolt seemed to walk differently in his ministerial robes than he had in his old auror ones. "It is terrible everything that has happened to your family lately. My deepest sympathies. I have not found as much time to visit your parents as I would like. Has there been-"

"No change." Fred broke in, Ron just looked away. Sometimes it was hard to believe their parents would ever wake up.

"And again tonight." Shacklebolt glanced back at the road where the aurors were sweeping their wands back and forth across the ground. Ron wanted to roll his eyes, if they could track these things that way they would have done it before now. "Now, this exorcism? Is there anything you want to tell me?"

"We learnt about it from Professor Michelson last year-"

"Son," Shacklebolt raised his hand. "Be aware that we detected an exorcism past week in the course of investigating another incident. Near to the home of Hermione Granger. Now... Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Ron licked his lips. That changed things.

"Hermione Granger is not supposed to be casting spells, or even have a wand." Shacklebolt said quietly. "But if it was in defence of her own life that would be different."

"Why do you care?" Ron said suddenly as a thought popped into his head. "It's like you care more about Hermione than about the shadow things!"

"I care that your friend found the way to fight these things. I want to know if there is anything else I'm missing." Shacklebolt crossed his arms. "Am I?"

The three marauders stayed silent.

"Well, I can understand you being loyal. Just think about who you could be hurting." Shacklebolt turned and walked away. Ron had a sudden thought and said quickly-

"We should go now."

"Why?" Fred looked at him.

"Because in a few seconds he's gonna order someone to follow us isn't he?"

"Wh... no! Not Shacklebolt..."

"No, no. He's right!" George cut off his brother and dropped off the wall. "The others need to hear about this, we need to go!"

The marauders hands flickered into their pockets and pulled out three cloaks.

"You're late." Draco couldn't possibly have seen them, he wasn't wearing marauder glasses, but somehow he still managed to glare at them. "Were you followed?"

"No, but something happened bad." Fred pushed into the house. "Where is this anyway?"

"The Malfoy town house. It is also not on any ministry books, tax purposes you see. To my knowledge my parents never used it, making it even more perfect." Draco nodded them through into the house. It was surprisingly small for a Malfoy dwelling Ron thought. It could also almost be thought of a homely, wooden floorboards, airy windows (full of magically one-way glass) and patches of lighter wallpaper where all the paintings had been removed.

Ron shrugged and walked forward into the open living room.

"You're late!"

"Are you ok Hermione?" Ron ignored Hermione's angry accusation and focussed on her frazzled hair and the deep rings under her eyes. "You look tired."

"Night time is the only time I can do magic. And right now I'm supposed to be in detention." Hermione's eyes shifted one way then the other.

"Your teachers believe you are there. I've ensured it." Draco stepped into the room. "Now, is everyone here?"

The marauders around the room nodded, the two sets of twins, Cho, Split, Kingston, the Bakers. Everyone.

"Well, we're officially an underground movement." Draco said sarcastically. "Harry would be proud."

The room went silent. No one liked to be reminded of... Ron shook his head, it wasn't any use. Harry was gone. Ron didn't know whether he was more angry or worried. Angry that Harry had abandoned them or worried about whether he was safe.

"So..." Ron broke the silence. "Our house was attacked last night. Two big shadows." That got people talking.

"Are you all alright? Was anyone hurt?" Hermione's voice went a little shrill.

"Everyone's fine, the chanting exorcism worked." Ron shuddered. "But it took way too long. If they hadn't been behind the wards they would have got us for sure."

"The smaller spells don't work for long enough, the more powerful spells take too long." Draco sounded tired and angry. Ron tried to remember when the last full moon had been. "So what are we going to do if they attack where there aren't three layers of wards?"

"One person holds it off with patronuses. The other starts chanting." Padma suggested.

"The exorcism we used needs at least three people." George shook his head. "It was the most powerful one we could find. Maybe a weaker one will work but..."

"Padma, Parvati, would you look into that." Draco rubbed is forehead. "In the meantime try to move in fours."

"How." Split said flatly. "We're not even supposed to be meeting."

"Hermione is the only one who's actually here illegally." Parvati smiled at her friend. "The rest of us only have our parents to worry about."

Parents or brothers. Ron wished he had Draco ability to shut off bad thoughts or Harry's power to ignore them.

"Maybe it would be best if we just called for help if we're attacked." Draco held up the marauder badge. "Everyone still have theirs?"

"In my sock."

"Hidden pocket."

"Cuff-link."

"Clipped to the inside of my br..." Cho trailed off and went red as people turned to look at her "What? No one'll look there."

"Not _necessarily_ true." Fred grinned then yelped as Hermione kicked his in the leg.

"Well keep them close anyway." Of the boys Draco seemed the least interested in Cho's comment. "Call out if you see a shadow creature, then run and try to keep it busy. Do not try to fight it yourself. And carry brooms when you can."

"We should try to find time to train-" Ron began but Draco cut him off.

"No, we don't have time. If we can only meet when we can all escape we're not wasting those hours. Training is just procrastinating anyway. Kidding ourselves into thinking we're doing something useful instead of wasting time. _Training_ is the easy way, actually doing something is harder."

"So what do we do?"

"I have been keeping abreast of the auror investigation." Draco waved towards a pinboard behind him, with lots of notes and a map stuck to it. "They may turn up something. Hermione has been tracking them..." Draco stopped, clearly expecting Hermione to pick up the thread. She did, but only after a few moments of tired confusion.

"Yes, yes I've been following where they come from." Hermione rubbed her temples. "The trails just lead into the sea. I've been trying to find where they start again across the channel but I haven't managed yet. I'll pick up the trail at the burrow tonight, maybe I'll find something. You said there were two, maybe they left a bigger trail."

"I'll come with you." Ron said, _way_ too quickly. He tried to calm down as everyone looked at him. "I mean we said no one should travel alone, and you can't apparate. I can. I mean we might as well, you're basically starting from my house."

"Yes, good idea." Draco nodded. "Take the twins too." In that moment Ron _hated_ Draco Malfoy.

"And the rest of us?" Neville raised his hand hesitantly.

"Have something else to do." Draco reached into his robes and pulled out what looked like a mangled tiara. "This was a Hocrux. There is one other left. We are going to find it."

As everyone began talking at once Ron realised that it almost felt like old times again. Except for the two empty places in the circle. One dead and one... gone.

Ron shook his head. Block it out. Work to do.

"The steps were carved over a thousand years ago from the mountain side itself."

It was one thousand two hundred and seventy three years, but they had to re-carve them two hundred years ago. Pythea filled in the blanks from her own knowledge as the irritating wizard next to her droned on and on with facts drawn entirely from a guidebook. There had been maybe twenty in their party but they had left some of them half way up. Pythea wanted to resist calling them 'the fat ones' but it had been a long few months.

The temple seemed to scrape the sky above them, hundreds of steps left to go. The people climbing with her were mostly tourists. All of them were sweating from every inch of their skin, even in the mountain air. Pythea wasn't, she had lived most of her life in a place like this. Of course that was a flying castle not a magical Tibetan temple. And because it had been made by wizards they hadn't needed to concern themselves with little things like the laws of nature or basic common sense. As such the mountain they had chosen was _very_ tall.

Thea shifted her backpack and pressed on up the stone stairs.

On the last step her legs twitched. Her muscles had been climbing so long they didn't understand they had to stop. She took a deep breath and walked forward, the open stone plaza beaconing. The people behind her snapping photos irritated her mildly as she bowed politely to to a monk that had come out to greet them, pressing her hands together and touching them to her forehead.

Hundreds of formalities and traditions had been drilled into her head as the oracle. She couldn't forget any of them, that past was part of her. Of course she had never officially learnt the forms to use when greeting someone of a higher station, it had been assumed that that could never occur.

"Excuse me," Pythea hoped her Tibetan was still strong. "I am looking for my friend, I think he may be staying here. He has..." Pythea trailed off as the monk smiled and stepped out of the way, nodding her through into the temple.

"He has been expecting you." Was all the monk said.

Pythea stepped forward, this was not expected. If he knew she was coming and hadn't ran... perhaps that meant something. Another monk pushed a door open for her and directed her along a long balcony. The mountainside dropped straight down to the left, revealing a vista across the Himalayas. There was a tiny bird perched on the railing that flew away as Pythea walked past, flickering away. A little spark of gold.

Pythea stopped at the end of the balcony. Three different doors before her, and no helpful monk to point her the way. Perhaps they wanted it that way, they expected her to find the rest of the way herself. Wait... was that music? Something just on the edge of hearing, something familiar. She followed it.

The corridor must have been cut through the rock, the music was stronger. The tunnel became a stair, light shining down from the top. But not sunlight, or not just sunlight. Pythea slowed as she reached the top, stopping as she saw the stairway open out into a broad chamber. Light streaming in through the cavernous windows, facing directly into the sun. Rays of light from without mingling with the red light bathing everything within.

The red light and the music came from the same source. Phoenixes. Twenty, thirty... Pytheas heart beat faster, their song whispering from every corner of the chamber and from without. Another bird swooped in and perched on the side of the table, staring at her piercingly. Pythea took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

The music dipped softer.

Pythea licked her lips and took another step, the birds were staring at her. One of them stretched out a wing towards her, a little lick of flame flickering up her arm. It was only a little warm.

The music raised a touch.

Pythea felt the phoenix-song bough her up, raising her spirit just a little. Why hadn't it done that before? Could they choose who their magic touched? It didn't matter. She shook her head and stepped forward, though the flames, through the song. Out onto the balcony.

For a moment she didn't see him, leaning against the edge, haloed by the sun. Pythea could fell her heart jackhammering in her chest. Breathlessly, she managed to speak...

"Hello Harry."

"Hello Thea."


	58. Three Mysteries: 2

Harry Potter and the Tree Mysteries Chapter 2: Destiny

Pythea just stood there for a moment, Harry wasn't saying anything, just standing there. He was wearing his own face, not the face of Harry Potter, brown hair and one hazel eye. The other covered by an eye-patch. He wasn't wearing his magic eye, did that mean something? Pythea felt a little lost. She knew how to deal with the Harry she knew, the Harry that joked and laughed. This was an entirely different animal. The different face didn't matter, she would recognise him in any disguise, it was the mind behind his eyes.

"Would you like some tea?" Harry's voice came out of nowhere. Pythea noticed the small teapot balanced on the balcony railing. There were two cups, only one was full.

"You knew I was coming." Pythea stepped up next to Harry.

"Yeah, course." Harry smiled, pouring the tea.

"I'm surprised you're still here." Pythea took the tea and sipped it. "You have been running a long time."

"Not from you." Harry shrugged. "From everyone else. Can't really discriminate when you're hiding. No one followed you did they?"

"No, no. I checked regularly." Pythea knew she had to tread carefully. "Not even your friends know I'm here."

"But they did sent you to drag me back." Harry rolled his eyes, behind him the phoenixes cooed softly. "That is why you're here isn't it?"

"I..." Pythea knew she couldn't be honest. "No Harry I didn't. I think you _should_ come back. But I can't blame you for running away. You're been through more than anyone, I don't have a right to ask you to go through more. No one does."

"Uh hu?" Harry replied, sounding unconvinced. "So why did you come?"

"I was worried about you. Everyone was."

"I'm fine. Now." Harry glanced up into the sky. It was a few moments before a Pythea could see the phoenix swooping in. It landed on the railing next to Harry and chirped.

"Do you know why they flock to you?" Pythea asked quietly.

"They won't tell me." Harry shrugged. "Maybe they just think I'm funny. I'm a funny guy remember, or I was a few years ago, before things got dark. I used to juggle remember. I've started again now, some of the monks want me to teach them." Harry chuckled wryly.

"But the phoenixs do what you tell them to?" Pythea pressed.

"It's not like that." Harry shook his head. "I think they're just... curious. About me."

"But they do what you say? They keep watch for you."

"If I ask them." Harry shrugged. "Same as if I asked anyone to do anything. They don't _need_ to do what I ask. They're just, well like I said, curious."

Pythea tried to fit that puzzle piece into what she knew about the man standing before her. It fit, just about.

"This is stupid." Harry turned to her, smiling. "You climbed all the way up here and I'm acting like the worlds worst host." Harry turned and stepped back inside the chamber. "Sit down, you must be tired."

"I'm fine actually." Pythea followed him. "The climb wasn't so bad."

"Then let me show you around this place." Harry happily put an arm around her shoulder and led her out a side door. "This place is amazing. There are these weird steam baths near the back, there's a waterfall off the side of the mountain back on the left side of the building." Harry led her into a little courtyard, ringed with statues. Two monks were crossing it and waved to Harry as they passed.

"Do you really mean to live here?" Pythea asked straight out.

"I... well no. I haven't really thought about it. Would that be such a bad thing?"

"I just never pictured you in a place like this." Pythea looked at one of the gnarled trees pushing it's way out of the ground. "Quiet contemplation, peace, one day fading into another. It seems like it would be a little boring for you."

"More your type of place? All mysticism, mystics and general mistiness." Harry chuckled. "I've had a lifetime of exciting. Right now I'll take safe and boring over... over what I had."

So you agree it's boring. Pythea hated herself for wanting any wedge that drove Harry from here, but it had to be done. Harry led her out of the courtyard and up some stairs to where they could come out onto a long walkway almost level with the roof. She had to admit, the view was breathtaking. The mountains all around, striking up out of the mist. Up here it almost felt like you could spread your arms and be carried to them, drifting on the wind.

"Why would I want to leave?" Harry murmured into her ear and she felt her heart flutter. "This view and all the Yak cheese you can eat. And no one trying to kill me. This place is paradise."

Pythea didn't speak. If she spoke she would have to agree.

"Come on, the waterfall is just the other side of that roof." Harry pulled her closer to him. "There are these birds that nest on the other side of it. I think they're magical but I don't know. They kind of shimmer." He led her away with a soft hand on her shoulder. She let herself be led.

The waterfall was everything he said. Pythea found herself leaning out over the side-rail like a child to get a better look at the falling droplets, then jerking back as the spray hit her face. Harry appeared at her side and she leant out further, this time welcoming the cool water on her skin.

"Good isn't it."

It is Harry. Pythea bit her lip. Far too good.

A flash bulb shattered the peace and Thea heard the irritating voice of the guide-book man. She turned to see a group of tourists clustering nearby, looking up at the waterfall.

"Unfortunately inevitable." Harry rolled his eyes. "Groups of them trek up here every few days. The only good thing is that they usually have a short attention span. They'll be gone onto the next shiny thing in a few minutes."

"I know, I walked up with them."

"All the way?" Harry smiled. "How did you survive?"

"There _were_ moments when the thousand foot drop onto jagged rocks looked very inviting."

"Poor you." Harry chuckled.

Pythea laughed and looked back at the group. All with their cameras out, furiously snapping the falls. Except for one...

"Harry..."

That one was looking at them. His hand went to his robe, drew out-

"Get behind me!" Harry spun between her and the man as hand flew out with a pistol-crossbow and fired.

_Snap!_

Harry's snapped his fingers and the bolt dissappered in mid air, inches from Harry's chest.

_Snap!_

The crossbow vanished from the shocked assassins hands. Harry locked gaze with the man and in a moment his eyes glazed over and he fell to the floor. It had all happened in a moment. Harry hadn't even had a wand.

Harry turned to her.

"Are you alright?"

"I..." Pythea found that she was shaking. "I'll be fine. Who was he?"

Harry crossed to the man's form, lying on the ground. The other tourists shied away from him, but didn't speak.

"Looks like the same guys that have been trying to kill me all last year." Harry said deadly, glancing back at her. "I thought you said you weren't followed?"

"I... I..."

"Don't worry." Harry straightened up. "These guys know what they're doing."

A door burst open and three monks hurried in and looked in shock at the body on the floor. The horror at the violence evident on their faces.

"He's just stunned." Harry said flatly, avoiding their gaze.

"Son you have-"

"I know... I have to go." Harry sounded like he'd had his heart cut out. No anger, no despair, just the knowledge that another good thing, another home, had been snatched from his grasp.

Thea couldn't help but feel like dirt.

Draco's eyes shot open, bloodshot. The alarms from the wards were grating into his skull. Just a warning bell, not the full alarm. If it was the full alarm his head truly believed his head would split.

"Enough." Draco waved his hand and the alarms shut off in a moment, leaving a flat buzz in his ears. He reached out of the cage for his wand and flicked the lock open before crawling out to drag a robe over himself.

_Doorbell._

Draco winced. He hadn't heard it before with the wards going off. Someone was there, not a marauder or they'd have used a better means of communicating. They would have remembered it was full moon too.

_Doorbell._

Draco groaned and struggled to his feet.

_Doorbell. Knock. Doorbell._

Draco staggered out, clutching various aching muscles. He managed to make it down the stairs before collapsing behind one of the hall pillars and retching.

_Knock, knock, knock._

I hate this. Draco stood and walked to the door, leaning on anything even a little sturdy. He reached the door and breathed deeper before pulling the door open. Two figures stood in the drizzle outside. One was almost welcome, his currently purple-haired cousin Tonks, the other...

"Mr Malfoy." Shacklebolt brushed raindrops off his coat. "May we come in?"

"Do you know what day it is?" Draco growled at the two of them. "You made me suffer, you can stand in the rain."

"I _am_ sorry about the timing Mr Malfoy, but this could not wait. We were recently contacted by Hermione Granger's parents. She did not come home last night."

Idiot Granger. Draco's teeth ground together. You were supposed to be subtle.

"Detection spells indicate she left her residence by broom." Shacklebolt raised an eyebrow. "She should have no access to a broom. She would not be able to buy one either, not having access to owl order services. Someone must have given it to her-"

"Oh _SOMEONE_." Draco rested his arm on the door, trying not to fall over. "Would you mind getting to the point please? I'm not in the mood for subtlety that isn't very subtle."

"Very well." Shacklebolt narrowed his eyes. "Either you tell me where Hermione Granger is, or I will arrest you."

Tonks looked at the floor. Her hair turned deep black.

"Why do you care? Don't you have a dark lord to catch? And shadows to track?" Draco tried to breath in the air from outside the mansion. The good, rain-smelling, air that made him feel less sick. "And why are _you_ here, you're the minister for magic. Why do you care about this so much?"

"I'm not like Dumbledore, nor am I like Snape thank Merlin." Shacklebolt crossed his arms. "I will not allow you or your friends to interfere. Tell me where she is, or I will arrest you and keep you until you tell me."

Tonks seemed to be shrinking into her shoes. Draco couldn't tell if it was an illusion, her metamorphosis or the fact that he was sleep deprived and wanted to die.

"You can't arrest me." Draco spat out. "You have no evidence of any kind."

"I don't need any." Shacklebolt shook his head. "The registration act allows me to take a werewolf into custody for an indefinite period. Without evidence, for the good of the people around them."

Dead silence rained. Options rushed through Draco's mind, ranging from running like hell to tearing the minister's throat out. He wanted to hurt him, wanted to destroy him as utterly as possible. He settled for,

"I wonder what Dumbledore would say..."

Tonks almost whimpered.

"Dumbledore is not running things any-more. I am." Shacklebolt crossed his arms. "Now, are you going to tell me. Or are we going to take you in."

_Run_. Draco felt the thought enter his mind and saw that Tonks had flickered up to meet his eyes. _Draco please run. I'll distract him, you can apparate or-_

"Running would imply I had done something wrong." Draco said out loud, holding his hands out. "Take me in."

"Where are you going Harry?" Pythea had to hurry to keep up with Harry as he hurried away down the long stone steps away from the temple. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"Didn't know where I was going when I left Britain." Harry didn't stop his progress down the mountainside. "Never know where I'm going. Doesn't matter, I just need to go."

"So is this what you're going to do?" Thea was in the unfamiliar and horrible situation of not knowing what to do. "Just jump from place to place?"

"I _was_ planning on finding somewhere nice." Harry turned sharply. "But that didn't work out so well."

"I..."

"Sorry," Harry shook his head. "That wasn't your fault. Not really... it doesn't matter..." Harry looked up at the temple. "Need to get beyond the apparation limit. He'll be coming round soon. Maybe I'll head east, Indonesia. It'd be warmer for one. Tropical rainforests, beaches..." Harry's eyes flicked up to hers. "You coming?"

"Me?"

"You spent all this time trying to catch me." Harry smiled a little, a faint little grin that blossomed a little as he spoke. He extended a hand up to her. "Well you found me. I can't stay here but, well the place itself isn't important. What's important is being, I don't know. _Free_. Yeah, Free. Come with me. We'll find another place, a place with waterfalls. Hundreds of waterfalls. Far away where they can't find me... us. Somewhere where I can get a decent coffee, not more freekin tea. What do you say?"

"Harry," she wanted so badly to say yes. "They won't stop hunting you. They went to the ends of the earth to find you this time, they won't give up."

"Way to shatter the moment." Harry let his hand fall and shook his head. "Who even are they? Why are they even after me? They know who I really am,"

"Wait! They know?" Pythea stepped down to be level with Harry. That she hadn't expected.

"The one that attacked me at the end of last year told me." Harry started down the steps again. Thea kept abreast with him this time. "They're not trying to kill Harry Potter, they're trying to kill plain old archetypal Jack. Not that that tells me why..."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Don't I know it." Harry shrugged, then hesitated. "You don't know why they might be interested in the real me do you?"

"No, I mean..." Thea swallowed. "I always knew you were special but... I can't think why anyone would want to kill you."

"Special how?" Harry narrowed his eyes.

"I..." It was time to tell him. Thea steeled herself. "I can't see your future, I don't think anyone can. The first time I met you I could read your thoughts, your past, but not your future. And no, before you ask I don't know why."

"Can't see my future?" Harry scratched his head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why? This is a... a failure for me." Pythea wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't even see my own future very far ahead because it intersects so much with yours. And when you're very close by... you blind me to everything Harry."

"I'm sorry." Harry took a few steps away from her. "I never knew. I'm sorry-"

"No!" Thea stepped closer again. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. I don't want to be far away from you." Thea's breath caught in her throat.

"Well," Harry's remaining eye sparkled as he smiled and put his arms around her. "I don't want to be far away from you either. Or maybe I didn't make that clear with the whole lets-run-away-together thing."

Thea leant her head forward onto his chest.

"Maybe..." Thea licked her lips. "Maybe we can find out why they want to kill you."

"Really, how?"

"We ask."

"Um... I assume that's not the _entire_ idea." She could feel Harry chuckling.

"Well obviously we can't ask the assassins." Thea said slowly. "But perhaps we can ask the centaurs. You said they seemed to be working together and there's a herd that lives not far from here."

"The centaurs'll kill me just as quickly. And the last time I met them they weren't inclined to answer questions. More enthusiastic with the killing me than answering questions. Lots of arrows..."

"Then we just need to fix it so you don't need to worry about little things like arrows."

"Really..." Harry's mouth widened into a broad smile. "I like that idea."

It wasn't going back to Britain, but at least she had stopped him running. She had made him care about something. That was a start.

"I thought you needed like three wizards for this." Harry felt marginally uncomfortable standing in the middle of the spray-paint pentagram. "You can do it alone?"

"Yes." Pythea nodded. "I can do it alone."

"You can do astral-project me into a centaur encampment ten miles from here."

"There was a reason I was chosen Harry. And not everything they gave me went out the window when I was... fired." Pythea sat down and crossed her legs at the edge of the circle. "They'll speak russian. You'll need a translation spell."

"Not necessary, I went through Moscow a few months ago."

"How _many_ languages do you know?"

"With magic it takes like a week to learn one." Harry shrugged. "I don't know why everyone doesn't do it. Anyway, how does this work? Do I have to stand still so I don't go outside the circle?"

"No, just act normally. I'll take care of everything." Pythea placed her hands flat on the grass, on the points of the pentagram. She closed her eyes.

"Do I have to do anything or-" Colors blurred, the trees went fuzzy for a moment and slowly... slowly spread into a gray mass, a foggy orb of nothing all around him. "Um, Thea?" The colors began to merge out again, separating like oil and water. The trees reappeared, but they were in different places, a different clearing.

Weird music from that way, between the trees. Centaur encampment. Time to get on with this. A weird mental image of cossack-dancing centaurs slipped through his head. No. Stupid, and also almost certainly impossible. Harry stepped forward, half expecting to snap out of the haze and be back in the clearing with Thea. Didn't happen. Harry took a few more steps, then kept walking. He could feel the wind on his face, weird. Harry reached out to touch a tree and saw his hand go straight through. Well that sorted the whole arrow problem. Unless they had some sort of magic arrows.

Harry could see the centaur village through the trees. It looked like a bunch of stables, more than a bunch of houses. Huge wide doors and roofs thatched with branches, no roads or streets either, just grass. Not a lot of centaurs though. Not any centaurs at all.

Centaurs were mainly nocturnal. Not by species, just by choice. Being awake at night time let them do more stargazing.

Harry glanced into one of the stable-houses, two lumps looking like sleeping horses. Sleeping on weird nest-like beds. Harry scratched his head, waking up the centaurs hadn't really been part of his plan.

"Um... Hello! Um, mars is bright tonight! Could you wake up! I mean I have to ask you-" Three arrows shot through Harry's chest. "Oh, so you're up."

"Why are you here abomination!"

Harry turned and looked up, and up, and up. Was it possible to have a centaur based on a giraffe? Or possibly a skinny elephant.

"Um, hi." Harry coughed and started again in Russian. "Are you the leader here?"

"So you are nearby." The massive centaur barked an order to the warriors behind him. "Will will find you. Our brothers in Scotland have spoken of you _creature_. We will find where your body lies destroy it."

"I just want to ask a question then I'll be out of your hair." Harry raised his hands to show he meant no harm. "Why do you want to kill me? Why do the other guys, the guys with the crossbows want to kill me? Did you hire them?"

"We do not consort with them."

"Um, yes you do. I've seen you. Consorting good."

"You..." The centaur's fists clenched and he slammed it through Harry's skull.

"And what did you expect that to accomplish?" Harry swished his head back and forward. "I can see all your veins and muscles and bone marrow and stuff... Anyway why don't you tell me why you hate me?"

"Abomination. You are an affront to everything." The centaur removed his hand. "Every moment you live risks destroying everything."

"Why? Why and how? And why do you think I'm all this, did someone tell you?"

"Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos."

"Oh please, who _really_ told you." Harry rolled his eyes. "Was it those weird crossbow guys? Or did the mythical fates tell them to kill me too."

"Silence nameless!" One of the other centaurs yelled but was silenced by a wave. Harry's brain twanged.

"Nameless?" Harry stepped up to the other centaur. At least this one he could look in the eye. "No name? As in that old wizard thing? A wizard's name is tied to their destiny so... if I don't have a name I don't have a... Is that why Thea can't see my future? But that can't be right. I mean not being named by your parents isn't exactly common but surely I can't be the first. Or maybe I am the first, maybe you killed all the others. Is that what it means?"

"Tell him nothing!" The head centaur barked.

"Just tell me!" Harry yelled. "Who knows, maybe if the reason's good enough I'll stick an arrow through my own chest! Just tell me!" The world began to blur together, colors running together. "No! No, I need more time!"

The greyness smeared together and the last thing he saw was the staring centaur eyes. Greyness reigned for a moment, then the trees and the pentagram returned.

"Why did you bring me back-" Harry spun and froze as he saw Thea on the floor, sprawled. A claw reaching down from the trees, like a glass full of black-light fireflies. And up at the other end of the arm, like a hill blocking out the sun. Harry threw himself between the creature and Thea, wand spinning into his hand. "_Ferio!_" The hex just melted into the darkness and the claw slammed forward. "_Protego!_" The shield shattered and Harry was thrown backwards, skidding over the wet grass. The ground shook as Harry clambered to his feet. He could hear trees ripping apart as the thing got closer.

"Harry..."

"Thea run!" Harry yelled at the seer as she tried to lift herself off the ground. "_Incendio!_" The fire was sucked into nothingness. "What the hell will hurt this thing!"

"Get him into the pentagram!"

"He won't fit!"

"Get _most_ of him into the pentagram!"

"And how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Harry dashed to the other side of the clearing and fired another curse at the thing, which it ignored and punched through the trees, shattering them away like twigs. The thing wouldn't move into the pentagram, it didn't need to, it could reach him from where it was. Harry cursed and dashed straight at the thing, running between it's legs and screaming as the shadows darted at him like barracudas. On the other side he spun and raised his wand, "_Stragulus Lapso!_" and swung it down.

The ground was dragged towards him, rippling up like a carpet and pulling the pentagram directly under-

"NOW!"

"_Kakos deleastra!_" Pythea's voice went deep and the pentagram glowed red, shining upwards. The shadows shook and were dragged down, swirling like water down a plughole. Pythea kept chanting, her fingers curled into claws and her voice rising from deep bass to shrill shriek. A claw ripped out of the tornado of hell and grasped desperately at the seer.

"_Excalabus!_" Harry yelled desperately, slashing across. The claw exploded and was dragged back into the maelstrom. More shadows dissappered into the ground. The thing lashed out towards Thea with barely formed tentacles. Harry's hands were shaking as he slashed them out of the air. The spinning beast recoiled and tried to reach out again, but there wasn't enough of it left of it to reach them and it just grabbed the ground, trying to keep itself in the world. Pythea was breathing heavily as she kept chanting. The thing was slowly dragged back until, with a final flick of it's tentacle, it dissappered into the glowing symbol on the ground. Harry sagged and turned towards Thea.

"Are you alright?" Harry staggered over and dropped down next to her. "Don't move."

"I think my leg-"

"Broken, I know." Harry put a calming hand on her shoulder. "Don't move." Harry shifted his grip on his wand, healing needed precision.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"Trust me."

"Oh great."

"It's a clean break." Harry sketched the wand down to the break and made a slow circle, whispering softly. The broken bone slowly began to move. Harry kept whispering to numb the nerves as the two pieces shifted back together. Harry tried to match the pieces up carefully before fusing the bone together. "There, that should do it."

"Where did you learn that?" Pythea asked. Harry just smiled shakily. "Fine, be mysterious."

"What was that thing anyway?" Harry turned back to the now fading pentagram. "It looked like it was made of spirits, like those things that came out of the veil when Voldemort ran in. Was that an exorcism you did?"

"It was." Pythea got shakily to her feet. "It was probably sent by Voldemort."

"Voldemort." Harry said flatly. "Thought I had left that fight behind."

"Apparently he disagrees."

"God." Harry dropped to the ground, holding his head in his hands. "Why won't it end. I just want to get away, why won't they leave me the hell alone."

"That's why we came here." Thea sat down next to him. "To find out. Did they tell you anything? Before we were... interrupted?"

"No, they just fed me some bull about... I don't know." Harry shook his head. "They told me that, told me some mystic rubbish about the fates telling them-"

"The fates?" Pythea broke in, her eyes going wide.

"Yeah, the fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos." Harry looked at Thea's shocked expression. "But they're myths... right? Greek legends."

"Yes. Legends like dragons." Pythea said softly.

"You mean they're real?" Harry asked incredulously. "Three old women who weave the fates of everyone alive. The fates? The Moirae? The roman Parcae? Clotho, Lackesis and Atropos. Birth, life and death. Deciding the fate of everyone on the planet. They're real?"

"Sort of, they are not quite like the legends but... they're real."

"Have you met them?"

"I met one of them. Once."

"Well, I guess we know where we're going now." Harry took a deep breath. "We're off to see the witches."

Draco flicked the page back and forth, checking the page numbers. A page was missing, several actually. Draco dropped the book onto the cold prison floor beside him. There had been a bed in the room originally but the last full moon had torn that to shreds. A man had come and said that he would find another one. The man had not come back.

What time was it? Perhaps he could go to sleep, that would waste some time. The problem was he wasn't tired. There was nothing to do, they gave him books but... well. Draco pushed the book away, not wanting to look at it. If he had been in the normal cells at least he would have had someone to talk to. A criminal probably, not someone Draco would usually choose to associate with but at least they could play cards. But no, he wasn't in the normal cells. He was in the _beast_ cells. Being stuck in a cramped cell, barely any was to exercise, no sunlight. Draco half wanted them to just declare him a dog so they would take him out for walks.

Wait... what was that scent? Very familiar...

"Draco..." A whisper coming out of thin air.

"Hermione?" Draco shifted towards the bars. The air blurred and an invisibility cloak was pushed aside.

"Come on, we don't have much time." Hermione raised her wand to the lock. "I dropped sleeping potion into the guards tea but someone could come at any time."

"Hermione what in Marlin's name do you think you're doing?" Draco hissed angrily.

"Getting you out!" Hermione reached into her bag and shoved Draco's wand into his hand. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Being an idiot. You could be caught."

"You're already caught!" Hermione bit her lip, fiddling with the lock. "You don't know how bad it is outside. Every marauder is being watched like a hawk for anything they can pin on them. What is Shacklebolt _thinking?_"

"He's the minister." Draco lent against the bars. "He has to think of the big picture. Small things tend to get pushed out."

"I thought he was on our side?"

"He is. If you define our side as the side against Voldemort." Draco grimaced. "He's just gotten... stupid. Pressures of the office, perhaps it happens to all ministers. He may be misguided, but he's on our side."

"Are you sure?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "The aurors dragged the twins in yesterday, the Weasley ones I mean. Apparently they were messing around with a minor restricted substance. Elizabeth Heathland too, underage magic."

"Idiot."

"Smart enough to do it somewhere they couldn't pin it on her!" Hermione disagreed. "They wouldn't have got her if they weren't following her. They're following all of us."

"What about you?" Draco glanced down the corridor to make sure no-one was coming.

"I've been flying around, camping out. Following the shadow creatures." Hermione said breathlessly. "I found the trail on the other side of the channel, but it's slow going."

"Then go do it." Draco reached through the bars and gripped her wand hand, stopping it moving. "Go free the twins, and Elizabeth, and get to it."

"But you-"

"Living outside? In the open air? Without a cage or access to wolfsbane?" Draco shook his head. "Don't you think I want to get out of this cage? But it just won't work... You didn't really think this through."

"We could... we could stun you at full moons?"

"Granger, you're smart. Don't be intentionally stupid."

"I... I guess you're right. But I don't like the idea of you being stuck in here."

"I'll keep my wand." Draco pocketed it. "I can hide it. If things get really bad I can break out of here myself."

"Are you sure there's nothing else I can do?"

"You can find the bastard who started all of this." Draco pulled himself closer to the bars. "The aurors aren't going to do it. It'll have to be you. Get the others upstairs to help you, but you know it comes down to you."

"What about the marauders who haven't been arrested?"

"Leave them for now. We need some people who can still walk down the street." Draco's ears pricked up. "The guard's waking up. Go."

"Don't give up Draco." Hermione threw her cloak back over her head and dissappered. Draco could hear her footsteps slowly fading away into the distance. Draco hastily rushed to the back of the cell and pushed the wand into a crack in the back wall, leaving just enough to pull it back out. He lowered himself back down onto the stones and sat back to cover the crack.

Despite not wanting to, despite trying to push the thoughts out of his mind...

"Harry..." Draco lent his head back against the wall. "Where are you?"

"Where are we?" Harry glanced at the rock walls. This dark journey has began at the bottom of a sea cliff in Norway. Battered by the waves and stinging wind he had been glad to follow Pythea into the crack in the rock. That gladness had evaporated somewhat. "When we went into the cliff we were in limestone. But now it doesn't look like that any more. Maybe granite, maybe marble..."

"It's not granite." Pythea kept walking, balancing a flame over her palm. They reached a junction in the dark and the little seer didn't hesitate in turning left, down a sloping tunnel deeper into the darkness.

"And shouldn't we be under the water table by now?"

"The what?" Pythea replied distractedly. "Oh, no. We're not near the sea anymore. This isn't a normal cave."

"I got that bit." Harry glanced around. "But... it doesn't feel like wizard space. Not like the way the whole of Diagon alley can fit in six square feet of London or the way magic bags work. This feels like it's the right size just... somewhere else."

"You have good instincts." There was the fossil skull of a wolf embedded in the wall. Pythea walked past it without a glance. Harry skirted around it, noticing that there seemed to be a human hand clenched between it's jaws. Further along Harry could see a stretched out skull bulging through the stone, it's melted eye-sockets seemed to scream.

"We're not in Norway anymore are we." Harry shifted his fingers on his wand. "Are we even still on earth?"

"Define earth." Thea looked back over her shoulder at him. Her mismatched eyes glittered like wyrdfire.

"The earth I was born on?" Harry said hesitantly.

"Which earth was that?" Pythea smiled evilly.

"Oh fine, tease the orphan." Harry rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."

"I don't really know where we are anyway Harry." Pythea admitted. "I just know what lives here."

"Who. You mean _who_ lives here. The use of _what_ as a pronoun gives me pause."

"Definitely what Harry. Definitely _What_."

"The fates are a _what_." Harry kept walking in the darkness. "They have names, birth, life and death, doesn't that mean they're a _who?_"

"Yes, about that." Pythea stopped at the next junction for a moment, then turned right. Harry was sure that was back the way they had come, but a moment later they passed a corpse in the wall contorted and broken. That hadn't been there the first time. "The names birth, life and death are misleading. That isn't what I'd call them."

"What would you call them?"

"I'd call them time, destiny and death." For the first time, the very first time, Harry heard fear in Pythea's voice.

"Those are the mysteries they investigate in the department of Mysteries."

"Three mysteries, or maybe just facets of the same one." Pythea nodded. "Time, destiny and death. As I was ordained oracle I was brought to meet the fate of destiny. The other two, I have not seen."

"Thea, is this dangerous?" Harry stopped his companion with a hand on her shoulder. "Only you sound scared and, well it I don't want to put you in danger just to find out something about myself that could be bull anyway."

"It is dangerous, but we can't go back." Pythea shook her head.

"Can't or won't?"

"Fine, won't." Pythea raised an eyebrow. "But I want to know as much as you do Harry. This is my business too after all."

"I could grab you and carry you back to the entrance."

"You don't know the way."

"I think I can remember it."

"Ah, you think the way _in_ is the same as the way _out_." Pythea cocked her head to the side mock-mockingly. "It's sweet that you're still that naive."

"Well you're still a brat. Five years and you're still a brat." Harry chuckled and clicked his fingers. He held his finger out, lumos-light shining out from it. "Fine, we go on. But I'll go first."

"Fine. We're almost there anyway."

Harry stepped forward, making sure the seer was following close behind. The rock to either side was inky black now, absorbing light. Harry reached out to touch it and felt his fingers just slip along the surface. That wasn't rock. Wasn't even magical. Harry had a suspicion that it was just the essence of solidness and slickness without a substance to cling to. Things didn't have to be real down here. In the not-rock another bone jutted out, this one holding a sword. Once Harry was satisfied the skeleton wasn't animated he moved on.

Suddenly and shockingly the cave opened out. It was like stepping up onto the edge of nothingness, or into the center of the world. To either side the black rock shot away sheer, like it had been cut with a scalpel. A giant plane, the little ledge that Harry and Thea were standing on was the only blemish. It was vertigo inducing, Harry couldn't help thinking that somehow the wall was the ground and gravity had got it wrong.

"Brace yourself." Pythea got to her knees and placed a hand on the rock beneath them. Without a sound the ledge dislodged itself from the wall and floated away, flying into the darkness, towards a distant star right on the edge of sight. The only light in the vastness that didn't come from them.

"This is where they live is it? In the middle of this crazy place."

"This is where they spin lives." Pythea replied deeply. "This is where they set their destiny, measure their time and cut them down. This is where the tapestry is and where they tend it. This is their world."

"Great, I love visiting old ladies. They might have pie."

"Harry if there was ever a time to keep your wit in check..."

"Got it." Harry touched his forelock. "Tread carefully around the guardians of existence. Good advice." Harry turned and peered back at the glowing star in the distance. "What is that? It's getting bigger."

"I just told you." Pythea still had her prophecy voice on. "That's the tapestry." Harry's eyes widened as they flew closer. Then suddenly, like the veil had been lifted from his eyes-

"Mother of god!" Harry stumbled backwards as the rock he stood on was bathed in silver light. The tapestry was before them, strung in every direction. Winding and twirling in mid air, threads that looked like they were made of light sheathed in silver twined with each other. Taut or loose or twining with others into knots or bending around each other to go in whole new directions. Winding around floating rocks or hanging in draping curtains. A moment more and the stone they road on was inside, gliding effortlessly between the strands. Everywhere Harry looked he could see, stretching off into infinity, the chaotic web of life. "It's like someone played cat's cradle with an asteroid field!"

"Did you think the tapestry of life would be simple." Pythea was smiling a little in a mocking way.

"I thought it was a metaphorical tapestry." Harry tried to breath steadily. "How do three old women manage all of this?"

"I keep telling you Harry." Pythea looked up into the silver. "They aren't women."

Harry followed her eyes as the stone platform slowed to a halt. There was something coming through the light. Something slipping between the strands. Far away but coming closer. Something black as night and huge. The whole web shook as it approached, lives trembling in a spectral wind. Harry could almost see the form, dark, stretched, bloated...

"They aren't women, they're-"

"Spiders. Giant bloody spiders." Harry swallowed hard. "Giant bloody spiders."

Harry backed a few feet up, his hand gripping his wand until the knuckles went white. The spider drew closer, effortlessly weaving her massive bulk around the threads. Harry's eyes seemed to slip past it, not wanting to focus on it's oily-slick skin. Or was it skin? It almost looked like the thing was made out of black ink, shaped together.

Harry couldn't help but think of the shadow creatures. Not the same, but near enough. As it's head raised up to the level of the stone it's single massive eye split open, shedding sickly purple light over them. Two massive legs, each thicker around than Harry himself, crashed down to his left and right anchoring the stone. Harry steeled himself. "I suppose every fantasy story needs giant spiders. Shoulda' known I couldn't dodge them." Harry suddenly realized something. He looked back behind him. Nothing but Thea looking around nervously. Where were the other two? Harry turned back towards the spider. "Where are your sisters? Are they not coming?"

_THEY DESPISE YOU_

Harry had to grab his head as the voice screamed through his skull like knives down a blackboard.

"And you?" Harry rubbed his temple. "You don't despise me?"

_YES_ The great eye closed down to a thin line, striking across Harry's chest.

"Why?" Harry look a step closer. "And why are you here if you hate me as much as them?"

"Harry?" Pythea was looking out into the tapestry to the side. "Are you-"

_SILENCE TRAITOR_. The spider hissed like a nightmare cat. _YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE. YOU BETRAY US._

"Who are you?" Harry broke in, stepping in front of the creature. "Which one are you?"

_DEATH_. The great head lowered, bringing the shining eye down to Harry's level. _I AM THE END._

"Fine, you're death. Time and destiny hate me." Harry fought chilling fear and stepped right up the the beast. "Destiny hates me, why? Because I don't have a name? That doesn't make sense."

_YOU THINK YOU KNOW OUR RULES? _

"I'm learning though." Harry's eyes narrowed. "It's about the torrent isn't it? The torrent and the name. Time and destiny. That's why they're not here." The spider was quiet, brooding. "That's right isn't it? I'm right!" Behind him Pythea squeaked suddenly, frightened. "What is it?"

"No... nothing."

_YOU THINK YOU KNOW MUCH._ The painful voice brought his eye back forward. _BUT YOU KNOW NOTHING. LITTLE CHILD OF WASTE. THROWN INTO THE WINDS OF CHANCE. NEVER MENT TO SURVIVE, YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED THERE IN THE WATER, BEFORE YOU TOOK YOUR FIRST STEPS. BUT NO! YOU SURVIVED, YOU TWISTED FATE AND THAT, LIKE RIPPLES. THEN YOU WERE THROWN INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE GREATEST PROPHECY OF THE AGE, SHATTERING IT'S ALREADY TATTERED FORM AND WRENCHING THE UNIVERSE OFF COURSE. FLOWING OUT FROM THAT ACCURSED EVENT. RIPPLES. CHANGING EVERYTHING, DESTROYING THE CORRECT WAY OF THINGS. THAT IS WHY YOU ARE AN ABBOMINATION. YOU CREATED THIS REALITY. YOU ARE THE REASON IT IS DIFFERENT FROM HOW THINGS WERE INTENDED TO PLAY OUT. YOU ARE THE BUTTERFLY FLAPPING IT'S WINGS AND CAUSING HURRICANES. YOU._

"I don't understand? What hurricanes?"

_HARRY POTTER, FIGHTING VOLDEMORT, FULFILLING THE PROPHECY. THIS IS THE WAY THINGS WERE SUPPOSED TO PLAY OUT. THE ELDER WAND. THE SACRIFICE OF THE HALF-BLOOD-PRINCE. THE SWORD IN THE LAKE. THIS IS THE TRUE HISTORY, AS MY SISTER SAW IT. AS MY SISTER SENT TO THE SEER WHO SPOKE THE PROPHECY. YOU RUINED EVERYTHING. BUT NOT FOR MUCH LONGER. YOU MAY HAVE BROKEN FREE OF FATE AND DRAGGED YOURSELF FROM THE FIRES OF TIME. BUT NOTHING ESCAPES DEATH. YOU WILL BE MINE. NOTHING IS BEYOND DEATH._

"Phoenixes are."

_THEY HAVE EXEMPTION._

"Voldemort is."

_HA!_ The great spider seemed to pulse with laughter. _HE WILL DIE IN TIME. I AM INFINITELY PATIENT. ALL MEN TRY TO STEAL TIME FROM ME. IN THE END IT ALL TURNS OUT THE SAME. AND IF HE STEALS POWER FROM ME TO ELEVATE HIMSELF IN THIS WORLD, THAT ONLY SERVES ME TOO. IT BREEDS MORE DEATH._

"But-" Harry bit his words off. He'd got distracted, let himself be drawn away from what he actually wanted to ask. "Who are the people trying to kill me? They said you three told them to. Who are they?"

_FOOLS_

"James said that too." Harry muttered under his breath.

_FOOLS WHO THINK THEY NEED TO HELP DESTINY. THEY THINK TO PUT THE WORLD RIGHT BY ENDING YOUR LIFE, ENDING THE DISRUPTION._

"Isn't that what you want?"

_IT WILL HAPPEN WHETHER THEY KILL YOU OR NOT_. The fate reached up and laid one massive limb on a shining thread. _DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS NAMELESS FOOL?_

"I'm guessing it's... mine?"

_AND LOOK WHERE THE LIGHT IT._

Harry looked along the shining thread. A little bead of... dew? Life? A shining point. Right near the end.

_YOUR TIME IS ALMOST UP NAMELESS. I WILL ENJOY SNIPPING YOUR THREAD FROM THE TAPESTRY. LETTING IT FALL INTO THE DARKNESS. LETTING IT VANISH. IT WILL HAPPEN NAMELESS, SOON._

"Bullshit."

_BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT. IT DOES NOT MATTER. BELIEF IS MEANINGLESS._

"Tell me where the fools are." Harry forced himself to meet the shining stare of the spider, not blinking. "Tell me. Who knows? They might catch me and you can snip the thread a little earlier."

_IT WILL HAPPEN WITHIN A WEEK. REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU GO. YOUR DEATH WILL FIND YOU._

Harry felt a deathly chill pass through his chest. It was a lie. It had to be a lie. But somehow, deep down. He knew it wasn't.

"Thea?"

"She's telling the truth." The seer's face was ashen cold. "Oh god she's telling the truth. Harry she can't lie she can't. She's... Oh god."

"Where are they?" Harry spun back to the spider. "Where are they!? Tell me!"

_TINY HUMAN LIFE, THINKING YOU CAN STOP DEATH. YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE OTHERS._

"TELL ME!"

_THEY ARE CALLED THE ORDER. IF YOU WANT TO SEE DEATH. SEE YOUR CURSED LIFE FLASH BEFORE YOUR EYES. GO TO THEM. GO TO ITALY. GO._

"Where in freekin Italy? It's a fairly sizable place."

_GO!_

"I will not until you, freekin Charlotte-Shelob-bitch!-"

_GO!_ The stone shook and shot away through the blackness, knocking Harry off his feet and torpedoing back through the net and back into blank space. The purple light of the fate's eye blinked out, leaving them in darkness. The speed didn't stop until the stone impacted back into the rock wall, throwing Harry across the pitted surface.

"Well that was sudden." Harry picked himself off the grit. "Well, at least we go what we came here for." He stepped over and helped Thea to her feet.

"Harry... " Pythea was still shaking. "You're going to die."

"Thea-"

"In seven days you're going to die."

"No.

"You can't stop it." Thea gulped for air. "There's nothing you can do. Not a thing you can do. In seven days you'll be dead."

"What? You believed that?" Harry put on his best _unconcerned_ face. "I don't."

"You should." Thea stepped right up to Harry, gripping the front of his shirt. "You will be dead. There's nothing you can do. Nothing. Oh god I should never have brought you here. I should never have brought you down off that mountain."

"Would that have changed anything?"

"No but-"

"Then what are you worried about?" Harry pulled Thea in closer to him. "And I don't believe any of it anyway. I beat time and destiny, you want to bet I can make it a hat trick?" _Oh god what am I going to do?_

"You... you think you can beat death?"

"Yes." _No_."But if I want to do it I'll need to go see the people who want to kill me." Nothing else I can do.

"So... so what are we going to do?"

"Go to Italy."

"Italy's a big place."

"With lots of nice places to go." Harry looked down into Pythea's crying eyes and wiped a tear off her cheek. "And I've got a week to live. Like one of those old wizards with a brain tumor. Come on, lets see Venice."

Draco straightened as he heard a voice he knew shouting down the corridor. He dragged himself to the edge of the cage and pushed out as far as he could to see into the corridor. His skin hurt where he'd rubbed it on the stone in the night but he still strained to hear.

"You can't do this! We haven't done anything wrong!" Draco could hear people being frogmarched down the corridor. Shuffling feet scraping against the ground as people were dragged against their will across the floor. Draco could just see a sliver through the door but as the procession flashed by he recognised faces. Split, Neville, Ron, Cho, The Bakers.

"Hey!" Draco yelled, trying to attract their attention, but they were gone. Only the last figure veered off and surreptitiously slipped into Draco's room. "Tonks?"

"Draco, I'm... I'm sorry."

"_You're_ sorry?" Draco's hand snaked out and grabbed the aurors lapel, dragging her towards the cell and slamming her into the bars. "What did you _do_ that you have to be sorry for?"

"They're arresting the marauders. All of them that are left."

"On what charges?"

"None. Nothing. Shacklebot's gone mad. I think he's channelling the spirit of Fudge of something." Tonk's hair was scattered, flyaway, almost like Trewalny's. "The rest of the order don't know what to do. He's got us chasing the shadows. But I don't think it'll work."

"What about Hermione and the people she broke out? Are they still free?"

"As far as I know. But everyone else is gone. I don't know what to do."

"What you do? _What you do?_" Draco tried to keep calm. "You need to get the order of the phoenix together and remove Shacklebolt."

"I'm not sure we can. There's not much left of the order. McGonnagall is tied up at school trying to keep it together, Moody's discredited and no one listens to me any-more because they know I'm involved with a werewolf and cousin to another... werewolf."

"What about the others?"

"I don't think any of them can do anything either."

"So It'll have to be McGonnagall. Forget how _busy_ she is. Go to her and _force_ her to make it happen because otherwise everything is going to get worse. You're going to help her."

"Ok. I understand." Tonks stepped away from the bars and nodded. "I'll do it."

"And give my love to Lupin." Draco said sarcastically as he stepped away from the bars. Things were swiftly getting worse and he could do nothing stuffed here in a cell. He could break out. He had a wand but... if he broke out there would be nowhere to go come full moon, nowhere to get wolfsbane potion. What could he possibly do out there? Draco leant his forehead against the bars. What could he do?

"Harry what are we doing?"

"What I'm doing is enjoying this wine." Harry held the glass up to the moonlight. "It's supposed to taste like gooseberries but I don't see it. Also this steak is delicious. How's your fish?"

"Delicious, I just wish I wasn't enjoying it with a crazy person." Pythea laughed, looking out over the Venetian canal.

"What are you talking about?" Harry leant back. "If I only have a few days to live I want to enjoy them."

"I thought you were going to find the people that were trying to kill you?"

"I can do both." Harry laughed. "And besides, aren't you enjoying yourself? I've enjoyed the last three days. Gondola rides, walks through the city. With you." Harry caught the seer's eyes and she smiled.

"Yes, I am enjoying myself. You know I am. But... what are you really planning?"

"Ah well, if you insist on breaking the moment." Harry sighed. "See that room across the canal. That window... there."

"Yes."

"That's a hotel room." Harry shrugged. "It's rented out using an alias I've used before. I figure that-"

"They'll come to try to find you." Pythea nodded thoughtfully. "And we'll be able to tell from here."

"And now we just have to wait." Harry smiled. "Desert? They have tiramisu."

The desert was brought, and eaten. Now, with the coffee, they had moved out to the balcony under the stars. Harry sighed and closed his eyes, the candlelight playing lightly over his closed lids. Last year he would have had to pull his orchard around him to find this kind of serenity. Now he didn't need it, now that he had gotten away he could find peace in the real world, not just in fantasy.

"What are you thinking?" Pythea asked quietly.

"I was thinking about maybe coming back here after I've gotten rid of the weird guys trying to kill me." Harry turned to the seer. "Three days isn't really long enough to see everything."

"If you're alive."

"I told you I-"

"I know Harry. It's just..." Pythea shook her head. "Lets not talk about it. Yes, it would be nice to come back here."

"We could travel all around the world." Harry let his mind wander to all the places he had already seen and all the places he wanted to see.

"You can't run forever Harry." Pythea looked out over the dark water.

"Run?" Harry steeled himself.

"Things are getting worse in Britain." Pythea said flatly. "I've kept in contact. The shadow creatures are attacking there, more and more often. Hermione is a fugitive, trying to find their source, Draco is in jail-"

"Enough! Don't you think I know that?" Harry buried his face in his hands. "Don't you think I feel like dirt for abandoning them? But I... I can't go back. I can't go back to that. I snapped Thea, I remember snapping. My mind almost went when I killed Bellatrix. I was _this_ close to having my brain drip out through my ears. Just the thought of going back..." Harry shuddered. "I can't do it any more. I just can't. Call it post traumatic stress maybe I don't know... I can't go back."

"It's aright Harry, I'm sorry." Pythea stepped closer to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You've gone through more than anyone else. No one has a right to ask more of you. You deserve to have your... retirement."

"Hm? Retirement. Retired at seventeen." Harry lifted his head and let out a weak laugh. "I guess now I have to buy carpet slippers and start playing bingo."

"Oh I don't expect it to last." Pythea raised Harry's face up to hers and smiled. "You'll get bored with normality."

"Maybe. Maybe I just need someone to enjoy it with." Harry leant a little forward and kissed her, just lightly. He felt her lips move under his and she moved a little closer, her slight frame pressing against his. He broke the kiss and Harry looked down into her eyes. "Know anyone that might fit the bill?"

"Hmm... Hermione?"

"Ah. Of course. In retrospect it's so obvious." Harry said flippantly. "I mean the signs were all there, both muggleborn, both with brown, curly hair. It's basically destiny."

"Well we know how destiny works around you don't we?" Pythea smiled as she pulled Harry back into a kiss. Deeper this time, Harry closed his eyes and leant into it. Yep, he didn't need his orchard to find peace anymore. It was right here. After a long moment during which Harry's heart rate had gone from resting to racing Pythea pulled away and said, "By the way. Someone's in your hotel room."

"Hm?" Harry had heard nothing but the words _hotel room_.

"Your white cloaked assassin is here."

"Please tell me that's some kind of Greek euphemism."

"Look at the window Harry."

Harry chuckled and turned to look at the faraway window. There was someone in there, and it was no cleaning lady.

"I know that guy." Harry murmured quietly. "That's the same guy that tried to kill me on the way to the Tarot. Baby-saving guy."

"I suppose that means you have to go." Pythea stepped away from him. "I'll take care of the bill. And be careful."

"I'm always careful." Harry tried to sound calm when really he was shaking. This felt too much like his old life.

"I know." Pythea hesitated. "Don't you think you should put your eye back in? You could need it."

"As I said." Harry raised his eyepatch to reveal the shining green orb. "I'm always careful."

"How long have you been wearing that?"

"The entire time."

"I should have know." Pythea reached up and kissed him lightly once again. "I'll see you back at the hotel. Come back safe."

Harry smiled before pushing his hood up and hurrying away, making for the bridge and crossing quickly. He could still pick the assassin out inside the building, now leaving the room. He knew it was empty, maybe he had even guessed it was a trap. Harry reached into his bag and put on a mask. It melded to his face and in a moment he was a different person.

Far too much like his past life. Harry's hand's shook. In his mind's eye he saw Ginny shatter against the wall and the laughing face of Bellatrix. _NO!_ Harry forced the thoughts back. The orchard waited in the back of his mind but he pushed that away too. In a way it was just as dangerous, dwelling on dreams and forgetting to live.

The assassin was in the street now, Harry could see him pushing his way through the crowd. He hurried to keep up, careful to not appear to be hurrying. Pretty soon the guy would find a place to apparate and Harry would lose all trace. He started closing the distance, making himself part of the crowd. Just another arrogant passer-by on his way somewhere. Someone who would push past...

As Harry knocked past he dropped one of the fantastic muggle boxes into the assassins pocket and veered away. Better that the man never saw this face again. Harry sat down on a bench and opened a tourist map, pouring over it as the would-be killer strode away. Harry reached into his bag and pulled out the other thingy that tracked the thingy.

Harry didn't understand GPS. Didn't mean he couldn't use it.

He watched the numbers moving and managed to keep his eye on the killer for at least a few minutes before distance and life cut him from his view. Harry kept an eye out in case he had been made and the guy tried to double back. His other eye he kept down on the tracker.

Number changing... Number changing... Number changing... _Error_. Harry tapped the side of the device. _Error_. Harry shook it up and down. _Error_... Numbers. Different numbers though. Harry shrugged, maybe the device had been confused by it's target suddenly jumping from one place to another without covering the intervening distance.

Harry checked the numbers against a map. Guy hadn't jumped that far, not outside Italy. Rome, guy had jumped to Rome.

Harry stood and found a likely alleyway before changing his face and apparating. The little numbers on the tracker kept changing as Harry stepped out into the bustling city and quickly tried to orient himself. He needed to find the killer, needed to catch up to him. Unfortunately, as with all situations Harry seemed to keep finding himself in, the city was big and humans were comparatively small. Harry took a moment to pinpoint exactly where in the city the tracker was pointing before setting off, hurrying through the streets as fast as he thought he could safely go. It was dead night and only a few people were out, that made it safer to to jump-apparate little hops through the city. Catching up to-

There.

Harry slowed as he found his destination. The number's hadn't changed for a while now. His killer wasn't moving, wherever he was now, was where he was staying. Harry let his eye focus out and pierce through the stone of an old church. Boarded up. Abandoned. Well, that was what it looked like. Not really the truth though was it. Harry's eye watered as he tried to make sense of the warped images he could see inside the building.

Wizard space. That was what it was, the inside was bigger than the outside and it was playing merry hell with even his eye.

Oh well, nothing for it but to go in.

Harry steeled himself. This was exactly what he _didn't_ want to have to do. This was exactly what he had run away from. But if he wanted to get away permanently he would have to swallow just a little more horror, just a little more. Well either that or they would prove the spider right and kill him. That would also be a way to escape, and not one he hadn't considered.

To hell with it.

Harry skirted around the edge of the church and climbed up to one of the boarded up windows. Wards, obviously. Harry bit his lip and spent a few tense minutes wrestling with them before me managed to make a hole and quickly vanished the boards so he could slip inside. His feet touched the floor and he quickly waved invisibility over himself, blending into the drab, dusty room. They must have kept the outside rooms unused in-case anyone tried to look in through the windows.

Harry took a deep breath, then regretted it as he inhaled seven species of mould. Just one more horrible thing. Just one more bad thing and he could leave. Maybe somewhere different this time, maybe they were getting used to him going to wizard places. A muggle place maybe somewhere with cars and starbuckses... starbie... What the hell was the plural of starbucks? No. He was procrastinating. Find out what this place was.

Harry rolled his eye and almost gasped as he pointed it straight down. There were layers and layers of floors, people in white, people sleeping in bunks like soldiers. Halls with arches, strange alcoves with strange gold artefacts, like a monastery, like a monastery full of assassins. A monastery full of weapons. Lots and lots of weapons, boxes of weapons, crates of weapons. Muggle weapons, magical weapons... whoever these people were they meant business.

Wait a minute... there was the killer. There was the guy who had attacked him. Waiting, sitting in what looked like an antechamber. Waiting to see someone. Harry smiled, if he was waiting to see someone then that someone had to be important.

Harry hesitated before pushing the door open. Dissilusionment wasn't foolproof and he was in a building full of people who wanted to kill him. Harry pushed the door open quietly and stepped into the next room. It looked like a kind of file room, scrolls in stacks up to the ceiling. But more importantly the man in the room looked like a monk. More importantly than that he was Harry's size.

The scrolls made quite good bludgeons.

Harry left the room with his new monks cowl and the face of the unfortunate monk. He hurried through the candlelit passageways, no one seemed to take any notice of him. Although that might have been because they were too busy firing crossbows into targets or practising magical duelling. Harry was once again thankful for his eye, it let him take in the surroundings while still looking straight ahead as if none of this was new.

About half of them were unimposing monks like the one he had hit and stuffed into a cubbyhole. The other half were the white cloaked ones, the ones who had been sent against him. Some sort of religious organization then, that made sense in this city. An order dedicated to order, Harry chuckled to himself as he made his way down the stairs towards his waiting assassin.

He slowed as he neared the antichamber. He was way deep down in the complex now and people around him had more gold on their outfits and they were giving him _what-are-the-likes-of-you-doing-here-looks_. Harry sidled into an alcove and pretended to read a scroll while his eye roamed around for an option. This was the lowest level of the strange place, the floor was marble but there was a crawlspace under the flagstones. Harry carefully levitated one off and lowered himself in before easing the stone back.

A rat was looking at him. Harry ignored it. God only knew how it could see him down here, it was pitch black.

Harry shuffled along the dust filled space until he felt the subtle magical signature of a ward ahead of him. Harry eased his wand out ahead of him in the cramped conditions and tried to break through as fast as he dared. If someone detected him while he was down here he was almost certainly screwed.

His Quarry was moving. Harry looked up through the rock as the assassin was ushered through a door and into the warded office, beyond his sight. Harry cursed in the darkness as he tore down the last layer of wards and shuffled forwards. He pressed his ear to the stone above and cast a keenness charm. Muffled voices drifted down from above.

"-not appreciate being kept waiting Master. I was led to believe this mission was of the utmost importance." That was the voice of the man who had tried to kill him. It was hard to tell in Italian but Harry was almost positive.

"Your message told me everything I needed to know Francis." This voice was deeper. "You failed, he was not in the location. There is nothing else to discuss."

"We need to find a new was to assault him." The one called Francis insisted. "Frontal assaults are clearly not going to be successful."

"I summarized the same." The other one seemed to be testing Francis. "So what would you suggest?"

"Poison."

"We have tried poison."

"And it would have been successful but for a random chance of having chosen a poison he was resistant to. Choose a different one and our task will be successful."

"Harry Potter is mobile now, he will be much harder to poison reliably."

"Ah, you are right. It would be difficult to ensure that only the target was killed. The last time we almost killed an innocent bystander, that cannot happen again. Perhaps then-"

"The seer is hardly innocent." The master person's voice went hard as it cut in. "She once worked for the side of order and destiny, now she works with him. She works against us."

"She does, but we do not kill innocent. Harry Potter is an exception, he must die to restore the universe to the correct path. But no one else."

"Truly." There was a pause for far too long. "Perhaps it is time you were removed from this assignment."

"May I ask why?"

"Because it is clear you are unwilling to do what needs to be done."

"You think we should kill the seer too?" Frances seemed taken aback, but then, "If god wills it. Perhaps one life can be sacrificed. After all far more than one will die if he is not killed. The whole universe. One life-"

"You still do not see." The hard voice cut through. "You are removed from the assignment."

"What is it you plan to do?"

"That need not concern you."

"You have already done something..."

The master sighed.

"You know as well as any of us what the prophecy said. Harry Potter was the only one who could defeat Voldemort. Harry Potter is dead, therefore Voldemort reigns. Correct?"

"Tyrants can be weathered so long as order survives."

"Just so." The hard voice seemed to steel itself. "When I received the message that you had failed I made contact with the dark lord. He was given the boy's location."

Harry's eyes went wide in the darkness. Snakeface was headed towards Venice. Towards Thea... Harry's arms moved without him thinking, thrusting him down the dark crawlspace. The stone tore skin from his arms and he just pushed himself to go faster. He reached the stone he came down through and kicked it out of the way. A stunned figure was staring at him from the corridoor,

"_Stupefy!_" Harry was out and running before the body hit the floor. He reached a staircase just as the shouting started behind him. An alarm sounded and doors began banging open all down the corridor, killers pouring out. "After him!" Harry yelled as he pointed in the direction he was running. "He's getting away!" Running feet surrounded him as Harry dashed for the surface, hoping against hope that his disguise would hold up. There was the exit, the main door. But he was still surrounded by people who thought he was one of them. No time though, not enough time.

"_Reducto!_" Harry blew the door off it's hinges and threw himself outside. Spells shot through the air around him as he scrunched himself up in the roughest of apparitions.

His shoulder screamed at him as he slammed down onto the street in Venice, not knowing or caring about the muggles that scattered at his sudden appearance.

_Fire._

The heat and flickering light registered on his brain before he saw it. He leapt to his feet and spun to come face to face with the inferno. The whole hotel, the whole building they had been staying in was ablaze. Muggles running, trying to get away.

Harry had just the presence of mind to cast a flame freezing charm before apparating again, directly into the fire. His feet slammed into the burning wooden floor and Harry felt it almost give way under his weight. He dashed into the bedroom, nothing, no Thea, no body. Bathroom, nothing. The flames wreathed his body, a world of destruction all around him. Where was she!? Harry felt tears drop down his face and instantly evaporate. I can't lose anyone else! Not Thea! Harry's spinning eye lighted on the wall. He had missed it in his panic but something was written there. Written out in white fire when everything else was cherry red. A message just for him.

_I have her Potter  
Come to the valley of the kings  
Come to die_

The floor collapsed and Harry was surrounded by smoke. He could hear more beams cracking, more destruction. He just had time to curse the dark lord before the building crashed down around him.

"My actions over the past few weeks have been... extreme." Kingsley Shacklebolt didn't look at any of them as he spoke. "This post has changed me, I have had to make harder decisions than ever before. No one above to look to for instructions. No Dumbledore. I do not claim I have handled this well, in fact I have made a great deal of mistakes."

Tonks shifted on her seat and looked at the other people in the room. Mad Eye Moody, Markus Michelson, Hagrid... Shacklebolt had invited the order here, and specifically the parts of the order that currently hated him. Tonks shivered, things could go bad here very quickly. Or they could get better, no way to tell.

"The people in this room have all opposed the decisions I have made. Some have done so publicly." Shacklebolt's deep voice sounded tired. "I would like you to continue doing so."

"A assume you have a reason for this?" Snape snapped. "Why would you think that any of us would obey your orders?"

"I would like you to continue to publicly act against me." Shacklebolt continued. "But I would like you to secretly assist the... the marauders. Specifically Miss Hermione Granger in her search for the dark lord's location."

"Why?" Moody barked the word out like an accusation.

"Because I am being watched." Shacklebolt rested his head in his hands. Tonks almost gasped, for Kingsley to show any kind of weakness... "There are things at play that you do not know about. Things I was informed of when I became minister. There is an organization, based in Rome that... the details are not important. All that matters is that you go assist Miss Granger." Shacklebolt reached into a drawer and retrieved a file. "This is a her last known location. A village in the south of China. Quite a rural area, that is the reason Lupin is not here. He would not have access to wolfsbane. I need you all to find and assist the young witch since her method of tracking these creatures seems to work better than anything we've come up with. Merlin knows how... and when you find the dark lord, I need you to return here so we can surround his location and crush him once and for all. Do you understand?"

There was silence in the room for a few seconds. Tonks wanted to reach for the file, but on the other hand she couldn't forgive Kingsley for everything. No one in the room moved. Then, slowly, Moody reached out and took the file, looking straight into Shacklebolt's eyes.

"You and I are gonna have to have a talk when this is all over." Was all the old auror said before turning and stomping out of the room. Tonks let out a long breath. So it was decided. She stood and followed the others out of the room. As she reached the door she looked back. She almost thought she saw Shacklebolt mouth _thank you_ before she turned away.

Hermione wrapped her robes closer around her as the night air of the desert bit her to the bone. Tracking the creatures over lifeless desert had been painstaking and almost impossible. She had spread everyone she had out looking for any sign. Unfortunately that left each of them alone in the faceless desert. The valley of the kings was just a few miles to the south. It was an appropriate place for Voldemort considering all his hew death powers. but Voldemort would never be in the valley itself, muggle tourists walked through it every day. He would have to be somewhere outside.

A dead lizard, Hermione dropped to the sand to look at it. It was dried up by the sun, no way to tell whether it had been natural causes or a creature. This was hopeless. Hermione checked her map again, she was trying to search by grids, up and down to pick up any sign. But when it was all just faceless desert. ..She shivered in the face of the night air and set off again. Her footprints were the only marks in the sand not left by the wind. Off to her left she could make out her previous set of prints from her last sweep, already being covered over by the sand. It just served to accentuate the futility of her search.

Hermione's legs were killing her, walking through sand was painful. She leant down and ran her wand along her calves, calming them a little. She needed to do this. She needed to find Voldemort, for everyone back in Britain. For the marauders in prison. Neville, Padma and Pavarti, Draco... Ron... Hermione shook her head, she couldn't think about any of that. If the twins could operate with their brother in prison, their sister dead and their parents... don't think about it.

Hermione glanced over at a dark shape on the ground, but it was just a rock. Not even an interesting rock. Wait, what was that? Hermione squinted into the distance where a bright light had broken the blackness. It could have just been some muggles camping or drunk or something. Or it could be something important. Hermione marked the ground with a little M in the sand and dragged her invisibility cloak out of her bag.

She tried to go as fast as she could without kicking up clouds of sand. She tried to make for the place where she had seen the flare but it was gone now. She kept going, trying to keep her path as straight as possible.

Should she call the others? No. No knowing whether this was anything important she shouldn't interrupt their search. Hermione squinted ahead, there was a figure there struggling through the sand. A figure with a wand in his hand. Hermione was about to reach into her pocket and call for help when the figure spun and stabbed his wand towards her. Hermione was about to leap to the side when she saw the face in front of her and gasped.

"Harry?" Hermione stared into the unfamiliar face of Harry. She had only seen his real face once and he hadn't had an eyepatch but, "Harry is that you?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Harry turned away, once again trying to drag himself across the sand. It was only then that Hermione noticed that Harry's clothes were covered with ash and torn to shreads. Some of the skin she could see underneath was charred.

"Harry where have you been? What's happened to you?"

"He's got Thea."

"What?"

"I said He's got Thea!" Harry stumbled and fell to the floor. "The phoenixs flew around and they said there was something over here. A tunnel or something."

"Voldemort has the Pythea?" Hermione reached back into her pocket and grabbed her marauder badge before signalling like crazy. "And he's here?"

"Yes! Why else would I be here? Why else would you be here?" Harry froze. "I see it." He surged forward without waiting for her, kicking up sand. Hermione tried to keep up. In a few moments she could see it too, a ring of stone in the sand. Like an ancient air vent, the stones carved with strange symbols. She could see the stone block that had sealed it off lying to the side, discarded. The underside of it was barely discoloured. This place had been uncovered recently. Harry rushed to the lip of the pit without stopping and dropped, wordlessly into the darkness.

"Wait you...!" Hermione yelled ineffectually as he disappeared into the black. She sent another signal to her friends, took a deep breath and said, "Harry you idiot." before stepping forward and dropping into the nothingness. She fired a charm beneath her to cushion her fall but it was still a jolt when her feet hit cold stone.

"_Lumos!_" Her wand tip lit up and she shied back in fear at her surroundings. "The... there's-"

"Sphinxes." Harry was staring off into the darkness. His wand wasn't lit, he didn't need it. "Don't worry they're just the stone kind not the alive kind."

"They aren't all sphinxes." Hermione turned slowly, taking in the vast chamber all around them. A vast round room, the floor cracked by fallen stone and age. All around the edge of the chamber were giant statues, as large as the famous sphinx but... "Sphinxes have cats features Harry. These are... that one has a jackals head. That one had an eagle, and there's a fish over there." Hermione deliberately avoided mentioning the faces that didn't even look like any animal.

"We need to go that way." Harry ignored her and pointed to a gap between two of the massive creatures. As he said it the room was lit up as torches all around the edge guttered into life. The extra light made the statues easier to see, and that made things far worse. Harry set off towards the gap he had indicated and Hermione didn't have much choice but to follow. They stepped out into an avenue of sphinxes. A long hall with the creatures standing sentinel all along it's length. From the end of the hall...

"Do you hear that?" Hermione said quietly.

"The whispering?"

"Yes."

"No." Harry replied before striding forward, towards the end of the hall. "When we get there you hide behind the statues to the side. I'll draw his attention and you try to get to Thea."

"Harry..."

"I realize I... I don't have any right to ask you to help me." Harry hung his head but kept on walking. "I left. I left and-"

"It's fine Harry." Hermione cut him off, "She's my friend too."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you're back even if it's just for this." Hermione slowed, she could see the end of the tunnel approaching fast. The voices were getting louder. "Are you sure you don't hear anything?"

"Not a thing." Harry seemed to set himself, wincing with every motion.

"What happened to you Harry?"

"Building fell on me."

"Again?"

"Every bloody week." Harry smiled down at her. "Come on, lets get on with this."

Harry watched Hermione veer off before striding forward. Everything still hurt. This was what he wanted to get away from. Friends in danger, bleeding, dying, friends in danger. Harry forced himself to keep stepping forward. Come on! A year ago this would have been nothing. He had gone soft. He had _wanted_ to go soft.

Harry kept walking forward as the long avenue opened out into a vast chamber. A semicircle, the sphinxes lining the walls spread out to either side. Harry couldn't help but notice that they grew more grotesque the closer they got to the other side of the chamber. The closer they got to... to the veil.

Not an archway this time. Not a human sized gate. A vast curtain that cut the room from wall to wall, whispering darkly. Harry could hear the voices, not just voices he could understand but ancient voices. Voices in strange tongues, it had to be ancient Egyptian but some of it sounded like Latin, Greek, something Mesopotamian and a few voices Harry could have sworn were demonic. The sphinxes nearest to it had their heads turned to look towards it, looking into it. Their eyes still had the slightest hint of purple lacquer on them. They could have walked through it like horses down an avenue, they could have poured out of it.

Enough. They were just statues. Not important. What was important was the little stage in front of it, dwarfed by the veil behind it. A table and instruments, a workbench and an altar. Harry let his eyes light on it for a moment, golden idols, little versions of the statues all around in gold and bronze. Harry brought both eyes forward, to the focus of the scene. The centre of the dark tableau. Two figures, one standing tall, the other sprawled before him.

Voldemort and Thea. Harry came to a stop, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. He had to be Harry Potter now, not Jack, not free. Right now he had to be.

"Thea! Are you aright?" Harry called out. Her heart was beating. He could see that her heart was beating, but beyond that...

"She is resting right now Harry Potter." Voldemort said calmly. "She has had a long day."

"Taking a hostage? Leaving a cryptic message?" Harry took another step forward. His magic eye was clouded with shadows, flitting everywhere. He couldn't see Hermione, he just had to trust. Trust and continue to act the part. Act the part of the hero. "Very classic villain of you, not your style at all."

"But you came anyway." Voldemort smiled, the veil behind him rippled.

"Of course I came." Harry took another step forward. "I get bored with peace and quiet. I was actually just _waiting_ for your call."

"I was certain the rumours of your desertion were false." Voldemort also stepped forward, his wand appearing as if from smoke. "I knew no one capable of defeating me would fall so easily. I knew it was just a matter of time before-"

"Actually I did desert, and you're not _that_ hard to defeat."

"Perhaps not then." Voldemort raised his hands. The whispering in the air redoubled, growing louder and angrier. "But now I have done the impossible. I have gained access to the power of the dead. The power to step into the world of death and out of it with immunity. At first I needed a talisman, made from the remains of the golden idols in this place. But now... now I do not even need that. My own talisman suffices." Voldemort reached into his robes and drew out something on a long chain. A pendent, or... or a locket. It had a serpentine symbol on it, an S sign. The sign of Slytherin.

Wait... the cup had the sign of Hufflepuff on it. So could...

"The final Hocrux." Harry felt fingers of ice close around his heart. "You beat us too it."

"Don't presume it was simple." Voldemort's face twisted into a sneer. "It was not where I left... it is of no matter. All you need to know is that I now have total mastery over the netherworld. I have looked into the eyes of death."

"Really? What colour were they?"

"Purple."

"Damn."

"Yes Harry! I am beyond you! It does not matter what prophecies bind us. I am stronger than them. It does not matter how powerful you are, you can even stab me again, it will not matter. I do not need a philosophers stone. I do not need unicorns blood. I will live forever, because of the simple fact that I am more powerful than death. I am... god."

"You're not god. God's taller." Harry caught a glimpse of a figure hiding in the shadows to the side, in the lee of a sphinx. Hermione. And she was as close as she was going to get. "Now are you going to fight me or not?"

"Very well." Voldemort smiled. "Though I believe I will take a page out of your book..." The dark lord raised his wand, pointing it directly at his foe. Harry stiffened, in just a moment it would begin. In just a moment he would have to fight the dark lord with no advantage whatsoever. And he was damn sure he was going to lose.

The dark lord smiled. The muscles on his hand flexed and... released... Harry's eyes widened as the little slip of wood fell to the ground. The dark lord raised his hands and said,

"Now!"

The veil exploded outwards. Pitch black shadows streaming out like a flood. Harry didn't even have time to raise his wand before the fist of darkness hit him, forcing him back at the same time as it raged straight through him. It drained every hint of heat from his flesh, every thought from his mind. He could barely even feel the fact that he had been slammed into the floor of the chamber with enough force to rock the stones.

Screaming. Not his. Harry saw through bleary eyes as another fist caught Hermione from her hiding place and catapulted her through the air.

"Did you think you could hide from me!" Voldemort was laughing, high and cold.

Harry forced himself to his feet but the tide pouring out from the veil wasn't stopping. Another spear of shadows lanced directly towards him. Harry desperately leapt to to side, forcing numb limbs to work. The spear crashed into the wall, sending spiderwebs of cracks across the wall.

"You gonna fight me this way?" Harry yelled desperately. "Or are you gonna face me like a man?"

He had to drop to the floor as another dark fist slammed through the air where he had been.

"Take that as a no."

Harry could still dimly see the dark lord through the swirling vortex of death. He could still see Thea lying on the ground. He could see her heart beating.

Her heart was still beating. Harry pushed himself to his feet.

"_Excalabus!_" Harry slashed the darkness in front of him and took a step forward. Her heart was still beating.

"Harry!" Hermione tried to stand but was forced back as a rock the size of a car crashed down in front of her. She leapt around it but another tentacle of dead spirits whipped the ground in front of her. She could see Harry out in the centre of the room, robotically slashing his way forward. A piece of the ceiling hit his shoulder and drove him to his knees but he kept going.

"Harry get back! It's too dangerous!"

Harry either didn't hear her or didn't care. The dark force coming from the veil was just a wall now, a solid wall of dead spirits. It was bowing only where Harry was slashing away. Hermione dragged herself to her feet but already there were more stones falling. Another shattered the ground right next to her, sending fragments stabbing into her side. She could barely see Harry now, darkness and falling rock.

"Harry get back!" Another rockfall forced her back. "Harry!"

The whole room shook like an earthquake and Hermione looked up to the ceiling. Only there wasn't ceiling left, only rubble ready to fall. Hermione turned and dashed away down the long avenue of sphinxes, the collapse trailing close on her heels. Rocks fell all around her as she pelted between the statues. One sphinxes head chipped off and rolled in front of her. The eyes seemed to stare at her as she dashed past. She came to the main vent that they had fallen down.

"Hey!" Hermione hadn't brought her broom. She hadn't thought she would need it. "Marauders! Are you up there?"

The rocks were crashing down behind her., the cracks extending even up the sides of the vast pit.

"Help me!"

A thin rope dropped down as if from nowhere and Hermione grabbed it. She was jerked off her feet and dragged into the air. She kicked off the sides as she was pulled up and away from the sounds of the crashing rocks.

When she reached the edge she pulled herself over and lay, gasping, on the sand.

"What took you so long?" She managed between gasps. "I sent the signal over-"

"I think you may have mistaken me for someone else." A strange voice spoke above her. Hermione jerked her head up. Standing before her was a fully grown wizard in white robes, a long wand in one hand and the rope in the other. Behind him stood at least twenty other white robed wizards, encircled around... the marauders. Her friends were prisoners, hands bound behind their backs.

"Who are you?" Hermione managed to get to her knees.

"My name is Francis. I do not mean you or your friends any harm." The man reached down and helped Hermione to her feet. "In fact, if you wish it, I can provide you with transport back to your country. Or to any country you choose."

"Why do you have my friends hostage then?" Hermione tried to sound threatening.

"I was... I was ensuring that they did not interfere with the correct order of things." Francis glanced to the side. He seemed guilty, or conflicted. "But now things have... played out. There had to be a sacrifice but... at least it is over."

"What do you mean?" Hermione felt a surge of dread. "What do you mean the correct order?"

"The pretender to the name is dead." The man said simply. "The nameless one is dead."

"No... not Harry!" Fred yelled from where he was shackled on the ground. "It's not true!" Hermione couldn't meet his eyes. The cave had fallen and Harry had been right in the centre. Even for Harry that was... inescapable.

"The one you know as Harry Potter is dead." The man looked up at the sky. "The dark lord reigns as the prophecy said. The correct order has been restored. God help us for what we have loosed upon the world. God help us all..."

Among the prisoners Hermione could hear Elisabeth sobbing, Fred and George yelling that it couldn't be true. Hermione herself couldn't hold it in any-more, she fell to her knees and cried.

Kingsley Shacklebolt stood before the veil in the department of mysteries and kicked the corpse of one of the guards out of the way. The veil blew outwards, and the shadows came, wreathing the room in death. The veil twisted, the face of the dark lord appearing, his eyes glowing red from within the blackness. Shacklebolt kneaded.

"Master, it is done." He stayed on his knees as the spirits swirled around him. "The order of the phoenix has been deployed on the other side of the world. By the time they even hear of your return it will be too late. Potter's warriors are locked in the cells above as you have commanded. They will be the first to die as the ministry falls. Everything is set master, for your return."

"Thank you Barty Crouch. You were ever my most loyal and devoted servant."

"Thank you my lord."


	59. Three Mysteries: 3

Harry Potter and the Tree Mysteries Chapter 2: Death Part 1

What was that?

Draco lifted his head from the cold stone floor. Something, somewhere, was screaming. Draco levered himself up to the bars and tried to peer out. Something was definitely screaming. Draco could hear running feet. The door to the room with his cell was shut for the night but he could hear the feet passing the door, the shadows of people rushing past.

"Hey!" Draco shook the bars. "Hey! What's happening?"

There was a crash and the screaming got closer. Another crash against the wall of his cell and the screaming was cut off suddenly. Draco cursed and dashed to the back wall, scrabbling for his hidden wand. It came free in his hand and he blasted the door open in the same motion. He darted out of the cell and to the door, pulling it just slightly ajar. Bodies were crushed against the walls, screaming. Advancing up the corridor like a wave was a shadow creature, tentacles lashing out at the walls.

Draco eased the door shut and cursed. He couldn't fight it alone and the ministry seemed to be running like chickens. Draco aimed his wand straight up and blew a hole in the ceiling before leaping and pulling himself up a floor. Underneath him he heard the door shatter inwards he yelled a quick reparto at the floorboards and shuffled away. He had ended up in an office, papers strewn in panic.

Where to go?

He heard a scream from the corridor and saw a group of wizards vainly throwing curses at a insect-like shadow advancing on them in with spider-like intensity.

"_Abi in malam rem!_" The creature was driven back, exploding into fragments that filled the hallway like a swarm. "Get back!" Draco yelled at the shocked wizards. "Go up! The department of ghosts and spirits, they'll know better exorcisms. Go up!"

"They've blocked the stairs." One of the wizards was cradling his arm like he'd been injured.

"Then go through the ceiling! No, wait!" Draco stopped. The others. "Come with me!" Without waiting to see if they were following him Draco rushed away down the corridor. The other marauders, they were being held in different cells. They would be held in the normal cells, the holding cells. They were on this floor. The shadows might not have gotten there yet. Oh please let them not have gotten there yet!

"_Aby in malarm!_" One of the useless ministry wizards shouted vainly, the spell fizzling on his wand, as another the shadow chasing them returned to view, perusing doggedly. Draco fired the spell himself but this time the shadow only scattered for a moment, reforming closer and thicker.

"Get to the cells!" Draco ordered, backing slowly down the corridor and firing again and again at the advancing horror. He tried a more powerful exorcism, chanting it and hoping that desperation replaced power. The thing gave no hint that it even heard, but instead redoubled it's speed. Draco spun and dashed for the entrance to the cells, slamming the door behind him. The door wouldn't give the thing a moment's pause but maybe a moment was-

"Draco! What the hell's happening?" Padma yelled at him from behind the bars. The marauder's were all pressed up against the walls of their cells, trying to hear.

"Start chanting!" Draco rushed to the bars as the door was torn from it's hinges and darkness poured in. The marauder's didn't hesitate and in a moment the room was filled with cacophonous noise. "_Expecto Patronum!_" Draco's shining silver wolf leapt at the thing and fought for a moment before it was snapped up and torn in two. Draco called another but this one barely sparkled, not even giving the shadow pause in it's advance. The chanting rose and reached a crescendo as the shadow paused, writhed like a snake and exploded. The smaller spirits within it fading into the air and leaving only smoke behind.

"I repeat," Padma's voice was raw and harsh. "What the hell is happening?"

"Ministry attacked, all the lower floors are gone. We don't have much time." Draco spun to the useless waiting ministry wizards. "Give them your wands."

"But... No!" One of them bristied. "Without them we'd be defenceless!"

"You're defenceless now! You don't know any spells that can hurt them!" Draco yelled. "Give us the wands and we can get you out of here alive." That was what they wanted to hear. They wanted someone to save them. Babies. Always looking for help. No wonder Harry left. Draco thought darkly as the hesitant ministry wizards handed them over. "Alright Padma, Split with me at the front. Neville, Cho, Vanessa, at the back. Everyone else stand in the middle and chant. Keep chanting. We're moving."

Draco tired to ignore the screams as he blasted a hole in the ceiling and conjured a rope. He pulled his head up, no shadows, before grunting and climbing up to the next floor. His muscles ached. Too long in a cell.

Was that a scream? Draco leapt to the door, motioning the others climbing through the hole to follow him. More useless ministry wizards, this time trapped at the end of the corridor.

"_Expecto Patronum!_" The giant shadow was thrown back as the patronus was fired from the group. Well at least one of them was awake. Draco fired another and heard the marauders behind him begin the exorcism. His wand was felt like lead but he kept firing until the bear-like spirit disintegrated.

"What are you doing here?" The voice came from the huddling wizards. Now Draco knew who had cast the patronus.

"Professor Lupin. Where's the rest of the order?" Draco asked quickly, glancing back to make sure the coast was clear.

"Gone. They're gone. I don't know, but they're gone." Lupin was sagging from the shoulders down, his skin was grey. "They arrested me but Tonks left me a wand but now they're gone."

"How the hell did this happen!?"

"Shacklebolt." Lupin shook his head. "Crouch, Barty Crouch was Shacklebolt. Left. Left these things to do their work..."

Draco felt like punching himself in the skull. Of course he was. It explained everything, the change in personality, the odd behaviour.

Lupin sagged against the wall, defeat etched on every line of his face. Another broken waif to shepherd. Draco groaned inwardly. At least this one has a wand and knew how to use it.

"Stay with me Lupin. The entrance isn't far."

"It's blocked." Lupin shook his head. "We tried there but it was blocked. We were coming back down when we were trapped-"

"Draco!" Cho yelled shrilly from behind them. Draco spun and saw the corridor behind them swell from the floor up with a fog. It wasn't attacking or drawing towards them like the creatures had, it simply advanced.

"We're trapped!" Wailed a useless bureaucrat. Draco ignored him and blasted another hole in the ceiling. He was barged out of the way as the panicked wizard leapt for the ceiling and lifted himself up.

"The exorcism isn't working!" Cho was backing away from the rising darkness. There was too much of it. It was just _eating_ the patronuses, the glow vanishing into nothing like a snuffed candle. Lupin had gone up with the ministry wizards as Draco rushed to add his voice to the defence. But it was like holding back the tide. The spirits closest to them spun faster and shook but the mass behind them just kept pushing forward.

"Get upstairs!" Draco motioned the others back. "Get back!" Draco waited until the last moment to pull himself up behind them. The smoke kept rising, swirling like a whirlpool.

"Where do we go now?" Padma was eyeing the destroyed office they had climbed into.

"The entrance." Draco didn't wait but rushed from the room, checking the corridor was clear before leading them away.

"But they said the entrance was-"

"There are more of us now!" Draco said desperately. "We can break through."

"But it didn't have any effect on-"

"We can break through!" Draco shouted before slowing momentarily and saying quietly into her ear. "There's nowhere else to go."

They snaked silently through the ministry. Every wisp of smoke made Draco grip his wand. They were seeking... like feelers. The creatures seemed to be gone, absorbed into the mass. More smoke... Draco sped up, the entrance. They just had to get to the entrance. Draco found the stairwell, throwing the door open and hissing as he saw the rising horror just a few steps below..

"Go!" Draco yelled, waving the wizards past. "Marauders in a line!" Draco felt a hand clasp his on one side and the chanting began. The dead rose and Draco felt ice pierce his ankles, tentacles of darkness curling around them. He wanted to cast a patronus, but he needed to keep his voice free. The smoke seemed to be building up, a wave trying to break closer. Draco's throat felt like it was full of razorblades.

"They're past!" Draco heard Lupin yell and Draco pulled his legs away from the shadows, tearing the tendrils away. He kept chanting a moment longer as the marauders dashed past him before he turned and followed them, climbing as fast as he could. Climbing a tower, trying to escape a nightmare, so like- Draco shut the memory of last year from his mind. It did nothing to help. Someone was yelling up ahead, Draco shook himself out of his mind and rushed forward.

"There's no way out!"

Of course there isn't you idiot. Draco thought acidly as he skidded out into the entrance hall. We knew that already. But then be too had his heart catch in his throat as he looked up at the solid wall of darkness standing between them and freedom. A mass so thick he that even the swirling spirits within it were like fish swimming through sewage. Draco glanced back and saw the stairwell fill with the same impassable barrier, pushing outwards and forcing them away. The lift too was shrouded in darkness and rising. There was no way out, this was the only part of the ministry left and it too would soon be swallowed up.

"Patronusses on my count." Draco set his shoulders. He had always thought he might die like this. Not fighting but just slowly squashed in airless agony. "One... two... three!"

The air was filled with light as every marauder and some of the ministry wizards gave everything they could to summon a silver host that crashed into the wall and vanished without a trace. The spirits spun and Draco could almost believe they had been forced back.

"Keep firing!" The next batch barely flared to life before they were consumed.

"Happy thought! Think of getting out of here." _We'll never get out of here_. Draco's own wolf fluttered and had almost died before it reached the darkness. Draco cursed. Think of happiness.

"Draco! It's getting closer!" Cho cried shrilly. Draco risked a glance behind him and felt his heart drop as the clouds menacingly advanced. As he watched one of the ministry wizards tripped and went sprawling on the floor. Neville leapt to help him but before he had even moved an inch a tendril had snaked from the darkness and dragged the screaming man into it. The spirits fell on him like piranahs and in an instant he was gone.

Happy thoughts.

They were forced closer to the mass covering the door as the shadows advanced. They were clustering together to stay away from the shadows but it wasn't enough.

Happy thoughts.

The wall was bowing now. He could see it. They were having an effect. They could do this. His patronus grew and shone at that thought but was absorbed just the same. They couldn't do it fast enough. Another wizard was dragged to her death. Draco didn't let himself look back to see whether it was a marauder. He wouldn't be able to conjure anything if it was.

Happy thoughts. Family. _I killed my father._ Friends. _I get my friends killed. Ginny. I killed her. She loved me and I'm too wrong-_ No! Happy thoughts. Friends. _Harry. Harry... Harry..._

Draco tried to force anything he had left through his wand but his fingers were numb. His lips were cold. His chest felt like ice. Another scream behind him. The voice was familiar. No! Another scream. Draco could feel tears on his cheeks. He stepped closer, his wand almost touching the darkness.

"Come on then!" Draco cried between castings. "Take me! Kill me!" His voice sounded desperate and shrill in his ears. The wall was shaking, they were so close. But not close enough. Another scream. Not close enough. I'm sorry, I'm so-

"Expecto Patronum!"

The wall imploded, crashing over Draco. The dying shards of it fell through him, sending streaks of pain through his already dying muscles. Who cast that? Draco tried to look out through bleary eyes and saw a shining otter flashing through the air.

"Come on!" Hermione was yelling from the other side of the barrier, the Weasley twins standing beside her. "It won't stay open for long!"

Draco found a last shred of willpower in some dead silo of his soul and pushed himself to his stumbling feet. He staggered forwards as the other wizards broke past him and rushed for the door. Someone offered him their shoulder and he took it gratefully. He couldn't tell who, they were just a blur. He could feel his feet moving but see nothing. There was a door, a staircase that made his legs ache like fire then another door and... sunlight... blessed sunlight.

Draco breathed deep and collapsed onto the floor. They had come out the emergency exit. Come up from underground someone's garden. He could smell lavender, grass, roses. He could smell his own blood and sweat.

"Who's dead." His throat said the words his mind couldn't contemplate.

"Vanessa. Vanessa's dead." A voice behind him said. It had been Split who had carried him. "And Terry Baker. They're both dead."

"Too young. They should never-" They were the same age as Ginny. Damnit. Draco tried to drag his brain back together. "We can't stay here."

"No, we can't." Hermione kept glancing at the hole in the ground they had all crawled out of.

"Malfoy manor." Draco said. He had no idea that the words would come out of his mouth before he had said them. "The wards are stronger. They'll protect us."

"Are you sure?"

"It's the best idea I have." Draco got to his feet. "Everyone take two of the ministry wizards for apparition. Go!"

Draco himself stepped over to a fat, balding man and a woman who looked set to feint. Without a word he grabbed them and apparated away. Even that simple exercise of magic, something he'd done scores of times before, was agony.

He fell to his knees on the marble floor of the main entrance to the manor and got back to his feet as the air around him was filled with the pops of apparition.

"Hermione." Draco turned to the witch. He had too many questions. "Did you find where Voldemort was hiding?" Draco asked desperately.

"Yes," Hermione nodded quickly. "Yes we did but-"

"But what?"

"It collapsed down. It's buried underground." Draco hung his head. He had entertained a momentary hope that perhaps they could attack the dark lord at his heart. A strike attack to end this. But apparently not. Hermione wasn't finished though, "It's worse than that Draco. Harry-"

"Harry?" Draco interrupted. "You saw Harry?"

"Yes, yes I saw him." Hermione shook her head, her voice dead. "He was inside when it fell."

Draco froze, his skin going numb. It couldn't be.

"Yes Mr Malfoy."

Draco spun and stumbled back in shock and horror as he beheld the figure standing confidently at the top of the stairs. Long thin fingers played along the edge of a black sleeve and red eyes narrowed coldly. All around the beleaguered wizards sprung the shadow creatures, in every form imaginable, outnumbering them and towering above them at the same time. Behind them, stretching all around the room... veils. Draco gulped as he turned to see the silent fluttering cloth in every direction. Voldemort didn't need an arch anymore. He didn't need a construct. Death was everywhere, so he could get them anywhere. These veils seemed thinner than the one in the department of mysteries. Through the silky curtains Draco could see something. A desert, and mountains far away. A dead land. It stretched away in every direction and made Draco, standing in his small circle of firelight, feel absolutely alone.

Standing on the marble steps Voldemort laughed.

"You cannot outrun them Mr Malfoy. The dead outnumber the living by a significant margin. Now if you wish to live you will drop your useless wand. All of you. And you will bow to me."

Draco felt that last sliver of will leave his heart. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to go. No one was coming for them and no one could help. He had tried to do what he could in Harry's absence and he had failed utterly.

Draco Malfoy's wand fell from his fingers as he bowed to the dark lord.

_I'm unconscious again._

Harry's eyes flickered slowly open. He couldn't really feel anything, even the tips of his fingers were nowhere. They felt like someone else's hands. He could see sand in front of his eyes, fine white sand. He couldn't feel it though. Nothing on his skin. Faded light was coming from somewhere, but it was cold. Or maybe it wasn't cold. He couldn't tell. One thing he absolutely wasn't was crushed under a thousand tonnes of masonry.

_I'm still unconscious. I'm awake... but I'm still unconscious._

Harry put his numb hands on the flat grit and pushed himself to his feet. He stumbled back as his head reeled. The horizon seemed to zoom closer and fly away whenever he blinked and the air was dead and silent. He couldn't even hear the crunch of his own footfalls. The sky was pitch black, no stars or moon. But somehow there was light. And off in the distance the mountains reared, grey shadows on one horizon.

Harry's already numb heart froze. He had seen this before. He had seen this before, in a painting. A painting in the workshop of Voldemort. Right next to the veil. So that probably meant that he was...

"Dead." Harry looked up into the starless sky. "I'm dead."

_WELCOME NAMELESS_

Harry was driven to his knees as the massive voice shook through the air. It was louder than earthquakes, louder than being struck by lightning. One of Harry's few remaining senses was assaulted almost to breaking point. After lying in the sand for five minutes (waiting for the ringing to stop) Harry raised himself back to his knees.

"Would you mind keeping it down?" Harry spoke into the dead air. "I mean you wouldn't yell in a cemetery would you?" There was no response, nothing from the voice of god. Harry realized where he had heard the mind-breaking noise before. "Show yourself Itsy-Bitsy Spider. I know it's you."

Nothing materialized out of the desert. No giant spider flew out of nowhere. But reverberating over the desert came-

_YOU WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE. YOU ARE IN MY LAND. YOU ARE IN THE WORLD OF DEATH. YOU ARE IN MY POWER._

"Then there's not much I can do is there? I might as well be as offensive as possible. Twat." Harry could feel the voice echoing through his body. They were coming from... they were coming from the mountains. "What do you want from me anyway? I assume not every recently dead person gets this welcome."

_YOU ARE NOT DEAD._

"Really? That's encouraging."

_YET._

"Less encouraging." A brain cell clicked on in Harry's head. "This is like before isn't it? I'm in a near death state near the veil. Like before in the department of mysteries. I knew I wasn't dead."

_YOU THINK THIS IS GOOD NEWS?_ The massive voice seemed to chuckle. _YOU ARE LYING BROKEN AND DYING. NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU. YOU ARE ALONE AND DYING. AND YOU THINK THIS IS GOOD NEWS?_

"What the hell do you want from me?" Harry asked the air. "What do you want from me?"

_NOTHING._

"Then why do you care?"

_I DO NOT._

Harry dropped to his knees on the sand.

"What do you want from me?"

_NOTHING I WILL NOT GET BY SIMPLY WAITING._

Harry opened his eyes and momentarily thought he was still unconscious. His broken bones were set. His clothes were new, white linen. He had been healed. He was also chained to the floor.

"Why bother healing me just to chain me up?" Harry said out loud, not expecting an answer. He got one anyway.

"Because we are not savages Mr Potter." Harry spun to see the familiar face of his assassin. The man in white who had tried to kill him twice. What was his name?

"Francis." Harry could see the shock registering on the man's face. "You want me dead. Why heal me?"

"You were dragged from the rubble, broken and barely with the spark of life left in you. Many wanted to break your neck, or break your skull. But then we saw... we saw..."

"The veil." Harry guessed, rising to his feet. "You saw what Voldemort was doing. You saw that he's messing with death. You saw that he's just as much an... aberration. As I am. You want me to kill him."

"No." The cloaked man shook his head. "There is nothing that would make it worth letting you live. We simply need to know what you know. We need to know what you saw and what you have in your mind. Then we can defeat the dark lord and you. We can rid the world of _both_ its problems."

"You fixed me up so that you could torture me?"

"Yes."

"That was a mistake." Harry cocked his head to one side, then suddenly thought of something. "Did you fix up Thea too?"

"The seer?" Francis' eyes flickered to the ground. "She was not found with you."

"_What?_"

"She was not with you. I believe she must have been taken through the... " The assassin swallowed. "The veil."

Harry's chains chinked. His mind was some sort of blank volcanic plain, flat and dead with lava underneath. He'd failed. Again. He could see the darkness that had swallowed him at the end of last year threatening to swallow him again. He wanted to wrap himself in the orchard, leave the world behind. But that would just mean he'd failed again.

"I'm sorry Mr Potter."

Ginny died, for no reason. She joined the marauders to follow her brothers, to be cool. She had to lead them because I... because I wasn't there. My fault again. She was killed because I didn't move fast enough. Because I wasn't good enough.

"As I said, we are not savages."

Thea didn't deserve it. I just found her. She tracked me to the end of the world, she tried to find me despite everything. I would'ave died hundreds of times if not for her. I would have given up hundreds of times if I didn't know she was... And I just realized how much I... that I... Oh god...

"If you wish for me to call a priest. I will do so."

Voldemort. The volcanic rock cracked. Voldemort had done it all. He had taken everything in Harry's worthless already cursed and destroyed life. Harry could feel the bile bubbling out of every pore and into his blood. He had tried to fight and it had lost him an eye. He had tried again and it had lost him a friend. He had tried to get away, tried to get free and Voldemort had taken a... his...

"Mr Potter what are you-"

Harry leapt forward and grabbed the bastard by the robes before slamming him to the floor. He wrapped the rusty chain around his fist before punching the man savagely in the face. He grabbed a thin wand from the mans robes and stunned him before unlocking his collar and tearing it off his neck.

Still in a haze of rage he slammed the door open and barely registered two shocked faces before his wand came up and banished them into the wall with a thud. His feet wouldn't stop moving and he left the injured wizards in the dirt as he cannoned down the corridor.

He was in their base. He remembered it from sneaking in but it seemed like a distant memory, it could have happened in another life. Harry skidded around a corner and felt a slicing spell take a chunk out of his arm. Before him warriors were raising their wands, ten of them. Twenty. Harry couldn't have cared if it was a million.

"_Ferio!_" Harry blasted the ceiling between them but he didn't stop running. He dashed up the still crumbling pile of rubble and leapt up to the next floor. He saw white cloth and punched through a haze of insanity and despair, feeling a nose break underneath his fist. His legs still wouldn't stop moving as he found a staircase and dashed up it.

An alarm was sounding. It had been for a while. The staircase opened out into a wide stairwell, Harry could hear the tramping of feet, coming down towards him. Trying to trap him.

Harry leant out into the air and pointed his wand straight up.

"_Hammus Missus!_" The grappling hook shot up past floor after floor and Harry leapt out, the rope yanking him up and up. Floors flashed past and he felt spells clip him, from one side and the other. The ceiling was coming up fast. He needed a way out. There was nothing. To window, no door. Just a slate roof.

Harry closed his eyes and, a moment before he struck, rolled himself into a ball. The slates shattered out around him and Harry saw stars whirl above him as the night air flowed over his throbbing skin. He crashed back down on the ridge of the roof, the air exploding out of his lungs. He could hear the shouting from below him. They had seen where he went. They would follow. He couldn't apparate to Britain. He had no broom, but he needed to fly.

Harry raised his eye to the sky and picked out a circling raven.

"_Imperio! Engorgio!_" Harry drew the bird down to him as he forced it to grow. Someone in the street below screamed as the raven swooped over them, it's wings were already blotting out the stars. The building creaked as is landed on tower and Harry was almost blown back by the force of it's wingbeats. He rappelled up the tower in an instant and threw himself onto the birds back as spells began to fire out from the hole in the roof.

_Go!_

Harry commanded his ride and it launched itself off the tower with a stone-crushing crash and lifted off into the night sky. Harry gripped the oversized feathers and ignored the freezing wind.

The wind felt like it was drawing away his anger. It was still underneath, a deep rage that burnt like peat, but his mind was clearing out. He could think again, but the only thought he could conjour was that he had to end it. End the fight once and for all. It had been too much. It had taken too much from him. It had left him with nothing left. Nothing but... revenge. The fire in Harry's heart burnt deeper as he sent a command to his steed and pulled it to the left, slicing through the night air like a shark, to the horizon.

"A good decision Mr Malfoy." Voldemort stepped forwards towards the young wizard. "On your knees."

Draco didn't look up. He just got down on his knees. He heard shuffling all around him. But not enough.

"Everyone do it." Draco said quietly to the people around him. The sound of the last vestiges of free wizardry giving up came to Draco's ears. Good. They might live for a little longer that way. They might have lived for even longer if he hadn't been in charge. If he had been better.

"Good Mr Malfoy. Good." Voldemort was smiling. "I am glad you survived. That a few people survived anyway. They obey you, that is interesting. But you giving orders, that will have to stop."

"I understand. My lord." Draco mouthed the words. It was so very, very easy. "What do you wish me to do?"

"Draco no!"

Before Draco had a chance to shout a warning the dark lord had reached out a hand and the shadow creatures moved a step closer. Draco, in the centre of the circle, couldn't feel the icy chill. He didn't envy those around the circle who could.

"Be silent." The dark lord said calmly, lowering his piercing eyes to Hermione. "You will speak when spoken to or die."

Draco kept his head down. He said nothing.

"Excellent." Voldemort clicked his fingers and the circle of shadow creatures opened a little. The dark lord twitched his fingers and a figure was drawn forward by a golden chain around her neck. On the chain a golden medallion hung, emblazoned with a skull. Apart from that the figure was covered in dust and her clothes were torn, but somehow she still managed to stand with a straight back and walk with quiet pride. She stepped into the middle of the circle and waited just a fraction of a second before going down to her bloodstained knees.

"Hello Draco." Pythea said, her hands clasped on her lap in front of her. The side of her face was a single massive bruise and her mismatched eyes were wide and bloodshot. But her voice was steady. Draco said nothing.

"You may greet her."

"It is good to see you Pythea." Draco raised his head a little. "I thought you were dead."

"I was..." Only then did a tough of fear enter the seers voice. "There was sand..." Pythea's hand twitched to the medallion around her neck.

"The Pythea is one of the two people who has walked in death and yet live." The dark lord's voice became distant. "No one else has done this, no one else, but I have. I am more powerful than death. I am immortal."

"No one is immortal."

Pythea _shut up_. Draco tried to catch the seer's eyes but she was staring squarely at the dark lord.

"Ah little girl." Voldemort chuckled. "You have yet to learn anything." The dark lord stretched out his hand. Draco could see the seer's face setting, but she said nothing. Suddenly the darkness around them shifted and a lash of shadow struck out of nowhere, slashing into Pytheas chest and sending her sprawling across the floor. The medallion hovered up from her neck and flew over into Voldemorts hand. The dark lord chuckled, and dropped it to the floor like trash.

He's playing with us. Draco kept his face passive. He could kill all of us at any time. Why isn't he? Draco could feel his hands shaking. Was it possible that he simply didn't consider them any kind of threat any-more? If Voldemort had truly become immortal then he would think he could use them like playthings. Maybe he was right.

Draco flickered his eyes upwards and saw Voldemort smiling, his eyes lidded and calm, as he watched Pythea shakily trying to push herself off the bloodstained floor. His arms were held almost casually at his sides. He saw none of this as threatening. He saw it as sport.

"Have you learnt now?" The dark lord said as the seer threw her head back. She seemed to be breathing very shallowly, like she had crushed ribs. "Do you admit that I have the power of a god?"

"I never disputed that." Pythea's voice was still calm. How the _hell_ was she still calm. "You command powers that could, very easily, be considered divine."

"Then why do you continue to resist me?"

"Because I don't like gods anymore." Pythea smiled, she was missing a tooth. "I've seen them fail. Not very often, but in one very important instance."

"And what is that?"

"Harry."

"_No!_" Draco couldn't help but yell out a warning as Pythea was smashed back to the ground. Voldemort snarled in anger, the creatures around the circle shimmered and flailed like static. A moment later Draco felt a soul-freezing lash on his own back. Like being struck by a glacier. His head cracked into the marble floor and he curled up in pain, going into the foetal position and letting himself scream as he was pummelled from both sides, the freezing strikes beating his skin at the same time as passing through him. It felt like it was tearing parts of his heart away. Eventually the onslaught abated and Draco took a few deep breaths. He wanted to just lie there. He wanted to just lie there and die.

But Harry would get up.

Would he? He gave up. He left.

Harry _would_ get up.

Draco lifted a shaking hand and pushed himself to his knees. He saw that Pythea was already on hers.

"You see?" The dark lord was addressing the crowd. Draco saw that Hermione was also just pushing herself to her knees. Fred was helping his brother to his. All around there were shaking bodies and blood. He hadn't been the only one to try to stop the torture. He hadn't been the only one to be punished for it. "You see what can happen to any of you? I do not need you. I do not need any wizard. I require nothing that you can provide. I only let you live because I still, despite everything, believe in the supremacy of the pure blood houses. I let you live, to serve the _correct_ order of things. I do not require it. I am above even the purest, even the house of Salazar Slytherin. Ah! I remember the time when I was so proud to be of that blood. So bloated with arrogance and a sense of my own self worth. How _small_ that accolade seems now, how petty. When I have the power over everything. When I am immortal. When I cannot be defeated-"

"You can be defeated."

Draco felt like a coward for not speaking up himself. But even more he felt horror about what the dark lord would do to Pythea.

"You continue to defy me." Voldemort shook his head. "Very well. How can I be defeated?"

"Harry Potter."

"The prophecy!" Voldomort flinched and his mouth twisted into a snarl. Draco noticed the souls in the circle around them shift and twirl like vortexes in their shells. They did that before, when Voldemort was angry. He was holding them together with his mind. When he lost control they lost cohesion, maybe if they lost enough...

That was what Pythea was doing. She had worked it out long before him. She was trying to bait him into loosing control. But it wouldn't be enough, it wouldn't be enough to break the concentration of the world's greatest occlumence. Maybe nothing could.

But Harry would try.

Well I'm not Harry. Draco squeezed his eyes tight shut. I've shown that quite conclusively. And what's the good of fighting an un-winnable battle. But that's the thing isn't it. Harry always found a way to make them winnable. I still have my wand.

There isn't any spell you could cast that could help. Who knows if even the killing curse would work anymore. But I don't need to kill him. I just need to shock him. Just need something that will shock him, anger him or surprise him enough to make him loose concentration.

"The prophecy merely says that one of us will die." Voldemort continued angrily. "It will be him. That is clear now."

"Prophecy or not. He will beat you." Pythea held her head high.

"He beat you before." Draco forced himself to say it. He _had_ to say it. "He's beat you every time you fought." Draco braced himself for the deadly onslaught. It didn't come.

"Your attempt to anger me is amateurish." Voldemort was chuckling. "You think perhaps you can escape or gain the upper hand in some way. It is... amusing. In this at least you are correct. Harry Potter was far better at this than you. And he would not be crying now."

Draco lifted his hand up to his face. There were indeed tears there, a lot of them. Harry wouldn't cry, he would say-

"Bite me!"

The shadows bulged like kicked beehives, then settled again.

"You are pathetic." The dark lord sneered. "Your hero is dead, or dying, or has left you again. And you are a poor substitute for him. Dumbledore is dead. Harry Potter, your hero of prophecy, is not here. Your defiance had no purpose, you will not stop me. The prophecy states that only one person has any chance of defeating me and that person is out of the picture. There is no-"

Draco's eyes flashed up and met the dark lords. He concentrated and pushed forward...

*

_Let me tell you a story... A boy called Harry Potter. The hero... The bus smashed into him, there was nothing the doctors could do... Dead... Memories altered. Dumbeldore... Face changed. Voice changed. Mind blanked... There is nothing... Didn't know until the old bastard..._

There was a hero of prophecy. But... not him... It wasn't him. It never. Never. Was.

*

The dark lords eyes flew wide in shock and the beasts exploded, their shells disintegrating.

"Run!" Draco yelled as he drove all his strength into his legs, launching himself into the dark lord's stomach. He reached up and clawed at Voldemort's face, trying to get to the eyes. He wasn't thinking. He had nothing left, all that was left in his head was a need to distract the dark lord for long enough to let the others escape. His finger found something squishy and pressed down hard. It felt like a boiled egg but the dark wizard under him let out a scream of pain.

A rough hand grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him back. A knife flashed in front of his face and stabbed down, tearing across the side of the dark lords face. Draco was drawn back and up to his feet.

"Go!" The horse voice of Remus Lupin yelled in his ear. The hand on his back pushed him away and Draco stumbled away, he could see all around him the marauders trying to Shepard the pan icing wizards through the swarm of insane sprites. He could already see some of them pulling back together. Too late. He stumbled and felt the hand return, pulling him to his feet. "Keep going!"

Suddenly the air before them became solid and the two werewolves were crushed to the floor. Draco felt a knife hilt pressed into his hand. He forced his fingers to close. He pushed to his feet and darted away, running for the side of the thing and ducking underneath it's outstretched arm.

"Keep going!" There was a flash of light behind him. Lupin wasn't with him. He wasn't running. Draco felt every urge to turn and try to help but... it would just mean they they'd both die. Draco forced himself to run on and threw himself head first into the still burning fireplace.

The knife was heavy in his hand as he landed on his side on cold stone. The fire flickered out behind him and he got wearily to his feet. His eyes managed to focus.

"Hogwarts?"

"I thought the wards might keep them out." Hermione was leaning against a pillar, holding her stomach and breathing hard. Suddenly her eyes dropped to his hand. "What's that!"

Draco looked down. He'd just been assuming it was a normal knife but now... now it looked very familiar.

"It's... it's the basilisk tooth knife. The one Snape gave me." Draco held it carefully before him. The dark lords blood stained the blade. It really should have been black or green, not red like everyone else's. "Lupin must have got it from the aurors or the order or Tonks perhaps after I was arrested."

"But if it's basilisks tooth, and Lupin cut the dark lord with it then-"

"Then nothing." Draco shook his tired head. "I don't think rules like that apply to Voldemort any more."

"Where is Lupin?"

Draco just shook his head and looked away. He didn't want to see Hermione's face. Instead he looked towards the huddling wizards and marauders standing in the centre of the great hall. He wished he hadn't, it was worse. There were less than there were before. He forced himself to count the marauders, he would need to know how many were left if he was going to mount any kind of defence. He let out a sigh of relief that made his ribs crack. They hadn't lost any more. Just Lupin.

"What is going on here!" McGonnagall hurried in from a side door, her hair flying out of it's bun. Suddenly a screeching wail rung through the castle walls, making the paintings shake and grasp their frames for safety.

"What the hell is that!" Parvati was staring up at the ceiling fearfully.

"That would be the wards." Split said dryly, glancing out a window. Draco darted towards to opening. All around the edge of the castle grounds, all along from the middle of the lake to the forest to the ground between them and Hogsmeade the wards were flashing like fire. On the other side towered Voldemort's creatures, striking the wards again and again. Each time there was a screeching wail from everywhere and nowhere.

"Do you think they'll hold?" Pythea was standing in the middle of the ministry wizards. Once again the picture of calm.

"Not indefinitely." Draco was trying desperately to think of a way out. Something, _anything,_ that could help. There was no way out. There was no was out again. Out of the cauldron and into the fire.

_Yes Mr Malfoy._ Draco whirled and saw the other marauders looking around in shock as well. They could hear it too. _I must thank you for telling me what you did. Telling me what you did about... a ha... 'Harry Potter'... Ha ha ha..._

Draco could see the other marauders staring at him. Of course they knew.

"It was the only way." Draco said straight out. He could see one or two of them nodding. They understood. The ministry wizards were looking confused. Draco hoped they could weather the shock.

_You see Draco told me something very interesting._ The voice of Voldemort continued in their heads. _He told me that Harry Potter, the chosen one, had a life that was both horrible, eventful and crucially short. You see, when he was left with his stinking muggle relatives and, predictably, they were fools. The boy was injured in an accident. Yes good wizards,you did not hear this in the daily prophet. The boy was injured... mortally. And the boy potter... the boy died. The boy Potter died, not by my hand, not by magic, but by chance._

The wizards were shaking their heads. McGonnagal had her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. Had she suspected? Had she been close enough to Dumbledore to guess? Even if she had she wouldn't have believed it.

_But Dumbledore knew that wizardom is blind and foolish. He knew that they would need a symbol. A pointless symbol. They would need their hero. So he made them a straw man, a hero from dirt. He took a filthy muggleborn and made him look like the hero. He gave them a fake. A fake so good even the fake himself didn't know the truth. Not until the old fool told him. Any yes... I see you shaking your heads. I see you wishing it were not true, but it is. Why don't you ask young Draco..._

"Is this true Draco?"

Draco turned to his former teacher.

"Yes." The huddle of wizards were struck silent. A picture of wide-eyed shock.

"And you knew?"

"Yes."

"All of you?"

"Yes."

"But... but why?"

"Why what?" Draco found some strength somewhere in him, he didn't know where it came from but... "Why did we follow him anyway? Why did we trust him? Oh let me think..."

Draco let the silence draw on for almost ten seconds before-

"BECAUSE HE'S HARRY! BECAUSE HE SAVED MY LIFE BECAUSE HE SAVED YOURS BECAUSE HE STOPPED QUIRREL IN HIS FIRST YEAR BECAUSE HE STOPPED THE SCHOOL BECOMING A WARZONE IN HIS SECOND BECAUSE HE FOUGHT VOLDEMORT AND WON BECAUSE HE SURVIVED EVERYTHING BECAUSE HE'S PROBABLY THE REASON I'M NOT A DEATH EATER RIGHT NOW AND BECAUSE _HE IS MY FREIND_."

Draco's heart was beating fast. He couldn't breath but he found he was actually standing a little taller now. Harry wouldn't have given up in the face of certain, unavoidable death. Never. They had a job to do, and they were going to do it.

Draco turned to the window, wand in one hand and knife in the other as the wards shattered open. They had a job to do.

"But without the prophecy..." McGonnagall said softly.

"We don't need the prophecy." Draco took a deep breath as the shadows reformed to attack. "Professor, would you accompany the ministry wizards down to the dungeons. We need them out of the way."

"There is not the slightest chance I will do that Mr Malfoy."

"Fine." Draco jerked his thumb at the huddled masses. "Dungeons. Now. You all know the way." As they broke and ran like rabbits Draco turned back to the window. His Professor stepped up beside him and he could hear the marauders filling in behind him.

"Can anyone think of any kind of plan?" Draco said, not really expecting a response.

No one spoke.

"Hermione?"

"I can't think of anything." Hermione was on his right. Draco could see Ron on her other side, their hands clasped tightly. Draco smiled, that was good. At least something today was good.

"You never know." Fred said suddenly, his voice cracking a little. "Harry might come in time."

"Yeah!" His twin agreed. "He's probably already waiting. He'll jump out at the last minute and save the day. Come out Harry! We know you're here!"

Draco laughed and heard the marauders chuckling around him. The wind blew in from over the lake. It smelled like summer. Draco closed his eyes.

_Last chance_ The voice of the dark lord said quietly in his mind. Draco just shook his head. _Do you really expect your hero to arrive?_

"Yes." Pythea answered him out loud. "Yes I do. And he _will_ destroy you."

_A nameless, muggleborn boy who pretends to be a hero is coming?_ The dark lord laughed. _Do you expect me to be scared?_

Pythea did the most unexpected thing then. She laughed.

"You really have no idea do you?" The seer shook her head. "He was never meant to live. Born without a name, cast into a raging torrent he survived by chance. He wasn't meant to, he was meant to die but destiny has no hold on him. Before he could walk he had already broken free of fate. That would have been the end of it but then he was taken and thrust into the middle of a dead prophecy. He lost the only past he had, he took another and with that life he took control again. He took himself from a terrible home and once again chose his own destiny. He _chooses_ his own destiny. And then, still not even an adult, he burnt in the middle of a phoenix fire. He survived the fires of rebirth, it didn't phase him, he had already died twice. And then he not only survived the torrent of ages, he not only survived he actually _took control_ of the torrent. He took control of time and bent a paradox out of his own existence. He still bears the scars today, the _paradox scars_, on his chest. A living brand of the impossible. He is immune to destiny and he defeated time. And I admit, I was foolish, I thought that was the extent of it. I thought that was as extraordinary as it got. But it is _so_ much more. We saw the fates... we went to see the fates and I saw something extraordinary. We walked into the great cavern... a cavern more massive than the world itself and they came to us. The three fates came to us, they came to us to speak and I almost died of shock. _He could not see them!_ Harry Potter could not even see the fates of Time and Destiny, only the fate of death. They could not touch him, one put it's claw directly through his chest, he did not even flinch. He left thinking only one was there, I could not tell him, I didn't even understand it myself. But now I do. The three mysteries of the universe, the defining forces of existence, he has put himself beyond them. He beat time with his will, he beat destiny through suffering so no, I do not believe I am foolish in believing he can defeat death. The prophecies of the department of mysteries burn and turn black in his hands. A man with the power to destroy fate has made it his life's work to destroy you." Pythea's eyes flickered up. "So yes Tom Riddle. If I were you, I'd be scared."

There was utter silence as the wind whistled through the the castle stones. Across the grass of Hogwarts grounds Draco could see a figure standing beneath the army or darkness. He even imagined he could see the dark lord's red eyes.

_Death will come for you._

Was all the dark lord said, and the shadows rushed in like a wall. Draco hardened his heart and gripped his wand...

"Um..." Neville's voice came out of nowhere. "Why's the sun up in the middle of the night?"

As one the marauder's head's jerked up to the flaming ball on the horizon. It was getting closer. Growing larger and larger drawing in like a bullet. Draco's eyes flicked to the shadows, back to the fire, to the shadows, to the fire.

"Chaos is coming." Pythea said suddenly.

Fire, shadow, fire, shadow... Both coming too fast-

"Get DOWN!" Draco his the floor as the wall exploded in in a splitting collision of unstoppable forces. The hall of Hogwarts was blown to the ground, the stone flying away into the whirlwind of hell around them. Draco clung to the floor like a limpet, holding on for dear life. He managed just to turn his head and stared up at the battle raging above him. A battle between the gigantic shadow creatures and...

_Phoenixs!... Hundreds and hundreds of phoenixes!_

Draco felt rushes of heat and ice as the shadow and flame flowed over them in waves. And in the centre, like the eye of the storm, on a massive bird that seemed to be made of night, wielding a shining sword...

_Chaos, has come._

Harry could see Voldemort through the tornado and launched himself off the raven and landed on the buckling roof of Hogwarts. A giant arm swung at him and he slashed out, severing it in two. Another crashed in from the other side and was torn to shreds as three phoenixes dove through it like torpedoes. Harry dashed across the shifting tiles and skidded to a halt at the edge.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the figure on the ground, wreathed in darkness. The green spell was swallowed up and Harry felt red eyes shift to him. "Come and get me monster! Come here!"

Harry had to somersault back as the wall beneath him was blown away like paper. The roof tilted and leaned like a sea-saw and Harry had to scramble to drag himself back to solid ground.

_Yes? Did you want something?_ The dark lord floated on the air towards Harry, rising above the ruined ceiling and hanging like a hawk in the air. The tiles beneath Harry were torn away by shadowy fingers from beneath and Harry had to slash desperately at them as he grabbed a chimney and pulled himself on top.

"_Turba Novacula!_" Harry slashed his wand down at the wrecked tiles beneath him and leapt back as the spell took and thousands of shattered shards of slate fountained up like a swarm of sparrows. The dark lord encased himself in a shield in a moment but it gave Harry time to dash away, skirting around a gigantic tentacle that crashed out of nowhere , reaching the astronomy tower and skidding around to the other side. He leant around it and fired a killing curse, not actually hoping it would strike home but maybe to distract. The tentacle twisted around and absorbed the spell, swinging around to wrap around the tower, constricting in. Harry slashed it away but had to duck and roll to the side as a ball of darkness crashed through the stone behind him. The tower creaked like an old tree.

_Pathetic Harry. This would not have been enough to kill the old me, let alone me now._

"_Expecto Patronum!_" Harry threw his partonus out, a shining silver bird joining the burning flock in the sky and for a moment the shadows around the dark lord were blown back. Harry began franticly casting another spell but a wall of shadow rose in front of him and he had to desperately rush to the other side of the tower. He had every disadvantage. His army had joined him mid flight, flashing out of nowhere, like his anger made real. But they didn't take orders from him, he couldn't direct them. Voldemort had direct control of his. He had every disadvantage.

What else was new?

"_Ferio!_" The tower beside Harry shattered at the base and began falling away from him like a sycamore. Trying desperately to keep his balance Harry leapt onto the side of the falling tower and ran along it's breaking length. He could see the dark lord lit up in the the magical glare of his eye, floating to the side to get out of the way of the falling masonry. Harry leapt from the stone and saw the dark lord's face flash into shock as Harry's falling body slammed into him. He grabbed for a handful of robes and whipped his knife out of his pocket. He stabbed into neck- face- shoulders- eyes-

Aaa!

Harry was thrown off screaming in pain as lightning flashed between them, burning his skin and blinding his last eye. His wand came to hand and he managed to slow his fall just enough to turn certain death into certain pain. He shattered to the ground and rolled, his left arm breaking and twisting into his skin. Harry stabbed his wand at it and screamed as it fused back into place. He rolled to his feet, his magic eye spinning wildly.

_You have lived in the magical world for years and you still resort to knives. Such a violent boy._ The dark lord was floating above Harry, smiling despite the knife wounds. _This cannot hurt me now Harry, or whoever you are. Nothing can hurt me._

The dark lord stabbed a hand forward and Harry dashed away, just avoiding the eruption of shadow behind him. He catapulted himself through a window and made it out of the classroom only moments before a fireball turned it into an inferno. Harry pelted down a corridor but had to skid to a halt as the ceiling collapsed, a shadow beast falling through and writhing as two phoenixes tore at it. The wall beside Harry disappered into smoke and for a moment Harry saw Voldemort floating outside before the floor gave in too and Harry fell into the dungeon beneath.

The potions desk he landed on broke and Harry was tipped onto the stained floor. Down here you could hear the whole castle shake. The school was a warzone. There was a shattering crack and Harry rolled under a table as the whole ceiling was lifted away by shadowy limbs.

_You cannot hide from he Harry_. Voldemort floated above. He waved his hand and the stone ceiling was cast away like trash. _It is insulting of you to try_.

"_Eccere!_" Harry stabbed his wand at Voldemort then swung it over the cabinets of potion ingredients. The wood shattered outwards as bottles, bags and strange pastes fountained out and up towards the dark lord. Harry quickly included Snape's private store in the spell before twisting his wand to bring the two groups together. Bottles shattered and blended in the air, powders rained through each other and sparked before exploding in black flames. The random mass combined as it hit Voldemort's shield and Harry was knocked to the floor by the explosion, a solid sphere of white hot plasma, fountaining blue raindrops that burned through the floor below.

Harry didn't wait to see what effect it had had but instead dashed for the door, just as he reached it the light snapped out.

_Very good Harry._ Voldemort floated, unharmed and with his arms crossed, in the air.

"Reparto!" Harry stabbed his wand straight up and the ceiling flipped back into place, slamming down like a trapdoor on the dark lord and driving him to the ground. "_Jupital!_" Harry screamed his spell but had to dodge out of the way as it was reflected back in his face. The dark lord was a mass of shadows and glaring red eyes, gripping a thin wand in his long fingers.

"Back to using a wand are you snake-face?" Harry spoke through gritted teeth. "Not worried are you?"

_Merely bored. Cestus!_

Harry spun a table in front of him as spiked fist slammed through the air towards him. He replied with a partonus and followed it with a killing curse before dashing away. He couldn't fight down here. No room to dodge. Harry skidded around a corner and leapt up a set of stairs. He was thrown off his feet as the building shook again had to roll as a foot the size of a car crashed down right where he had been. Harry slashed at it and ran away, shouldering through the door to a classroom.

_What did I say about trying to hide from me?_

"_Depulso!_" Harry whirled and banished a sword from a suit of armor near the wall. He spun it in the air and slammed it out the window towards the hovering dark lord, who raised his wand to destroy it. Harry flicked his wand and the metal turned to smoke, flying through the dark lord's defence and reforming in time to drive into Voldemorts stomach, driving straight through.

_Oh dear. That was unfortunate_.

The dark lord's eyes flashed red and the sword flew out of his flesh, twisting in mid air and driving itself through Harry's leg.

"Aaa! Mother of god!" Harry fell to the side, the metal twisting and bringing even more pain. The desk he was cowering behind was blown to fragments and Harry could see the dark lord raising his wand again.

"_Evanesca!_" Harry vanished the floor beneath him and felt green death pass right over his head as he fell back into the floor below. He managed to keep his stabbed leg from the impact but it still made him scream. He waved his wand quickly over the wound as he pulled the sword out, muttering healing through clenched teeth. The flesh closed, but not completely, he had no time to do things properly.

_This is how it will end Harry. You realize that don't you? We know each other well enough to strike each other. We can knock holes out of each other. The only problem is that I do not feel them, I can survive anything. You cannot. This is how our final battle will play out, a war of attrition that can have only one ending. I do not want it to end that way. It will not be satisfying in any way, but it will be an ending._

An ending. Harry dropped his head to the shaking stone. That would be nice. But he killed Thea. He had to die. He had to burn in hell. Harry just about levered himself to his feet. His leg was throbbing, his arm too. Voldemort was right, this couldn't last much longer.

_Are you trying to hide again?_

Harry found a muscle somewhere and threw himself to the side as the hole he fell through became a torrent of lava.

"_Ardor-Algidus!_" Harry felt the flame freezing charm cover him and grabbed a table before stabbing his wand down and yelling. "_Retexo Graviton!_" The lake of molten rock fell upwards, taking Harry with it and crashing through the ceiling. Harry just about caught a glimpse of the dark lord before the lava vanished and Harry spun in the air to fire as many curses as he could at the dark shape in the sky before he dropped down to earth again, slowing his fall and gliding into a broken corridor to stagger away as fast as his leg would take him.

The wall before him shattered inwards and shadowy arms reached for Harry. He fired a patronus at him and dashed away as far as he could. He was somewhere near the kitchens. He never thought he would be lost in Hogwarts but the walls were covered in burns and cracks and the floor was gone half the time. Harry heard screaming from above and saw a wolf patronus shoot past through a crack in the rock. Draco, the marauders.

Harry forced himself to go the other way. He couldn't draw Voldemort to them, they'd never survive. Harry's eye was fixed on the sky, trying to find his mark. Where the hell was-

"Gabhiira!"

Harry's only warning was a loud crack from underneath him before the floor spiked upwards, stalactites like shards of glass slicing up and through him. A sea urchin of spears right beneath him. One spiked right under his leg, driving it up and shattering his knee at the same time as driving through his foot Another ripped up his side. Harry's hands stabbed down, he didn't even know what spell he yelled but the force propelled him upwards, lifting him off his skewers and cartwheeling him through the air to land in a pathetic heap on the ground. Harry tried desperately to block the pain out but both of his arms were slashed and he was leaking onto the floor.

Healing. For the love of god heal! Harry managed to twitch his wand enough to stem the flow on one arm. He switched hands and did the other, just a little less painful. Knee. Side. Harry managed to push himself to his feet.

_You're looking a little unwell Harry?_

"_Confringo!_" Harry stabbed his wand back at the forest of shards and shielded himself as the shards of glass sliced in every direction. Harry didn't wait to see where the dark lord was, he was already struggling away down the corridor.

There was a rushing wind and the wall in front of Harry rippled like cloth and before his eyes it became a veil. The dark lord floated out, a mocking smile on his face.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Harry was casting desperately now. The dark lord did not even try to avoid it, it simply melted into the shadow.

"_Abi in malam rem!_" The dark lord scythed backwards away from the spell and dissappeared back through the black cloth. Harry had just the slightest hint of wind from behind him and his eye barely had time to spin in it's socket as thin fingers plucked his wand from his hands like plucking an apple from a tree. His fingers closed involuntarily but it was too late, he stumbled and fell to the floor, turning as he did to see the dark lord holding two wands, another veil fluttering behind him.

_Rather fitting don't you think?_

Harry tried to push himself away, his legs barely moving. His hand flashed to his his side, where his coat pocket was, where it should have been. It was probably sitting in a strongbox in Rome. He had no spare wand, no weapons. He tried to push away but the dark lord just laughed, burning Harry's wand away in a flare of white flame before levelling his own at Harry.

_Goodbye Harry. It has been... Interesting._ The wand twitched.

"Get away from him!" The dark lord's eye flickered up and Harry twisted to see staggering students trying to get to him. He couldn't see their faces, his vision was swimming. Sounded like Draco.

_Ah. An audience._ The dark lord raised his hand. _It would be a pity if they left before the end._ The stone floor shattered and shadowy tendrils came from nowhere and wrapped around the legs of the marauders, snaking up and around to trap them there. _Now they will all see the end of Harry Potter._

"That's not my bloody name." Harry growled under his breath. "That's not my bloody name."

_Do you know boy?_ The dark lord's eyes flashed red. _I really do not care._

Harry could see the spell forming on Voldemort's lips. He had no defence. He had no wand. This was... this was the end. At least it was an end. At least it was finally over... Harry closed his eyes.

Thea.

His magic eye somehow cut through his brain and focussed on one face among the trapped throng. One face that would be forever burned through his brain. She was there. Broken and beaten, but she was alive. And he could still hear her heart beat. He had something left. They could have a future...

Hope wasn't much of a weapon. But Hope, desperation and anger might be enough.

His eyes didn't open. There wasn't time to open them. Instead he just twisted, flung his hand out and charged everything he had left into one last chance.

"_Excalabus!_" His fingers vibrated and sparked like embers and Harry blanked everything but forcing power through his fingertips. Everything and hope.

Like the flash of a shutter the sword slicked out, snapping into existence and shattering into nothing in a fraction of a moment. A moment was all Harry could hold without a wand, but it was enough. The sword flashed straight through the Dark Lord's chest, snapping out and leaving a wet would straight through the dark lord's chest. Voldemort screamed and Harry shouted the spell again, desperately slashing his arm sideways. Another shutterspeed flash and a splash of blood. Harry tried to summon the spell again but he had nothing left. He didn't need to through, the dark lord was staggering back, screaming and desperately clawing at his wounds. She shadows broke and spun.

Suddenly Harry was knocked to the ground be a gale that sprung up like a tornado. The dark lord was drawn into the veil like a blown leaf and Harry had to dig his fingertips into the ground to stop himself from going with him. A moment later the air was filled with black shadows, drawn from every corner of the castle like water down a plughole, twisting and spinning as they were sucked in following their master.

In a moment it was gone and Harry was left lying breathless on the floor, every cell of his body spent. Hands gripped his shoulders and turned him, his eyes still weren't open but he could feel the small hands. Smell her breath...

"Thea?" Harry opened his eyes and felt fingers brush his lips. "You're alive."

"_I'm_ alive? Harry you just destroyed the dark lord."

"I..." Harry's eyes fluttered and he passed out, every insanity of the last few days catching up to him at once. He wasn't out for long though, a burst of golden light and he snapped back to consciousness. Healing flowed into his limbs, more than a human could manage. Harry opened his eyes and saw flames around the room, phoenixes dotted around in every direction. Harry could see one leaning over it's head to drip tears on Neville's arm. Another was right above Harry, doing the same.

"Harry?"

"I'm up."

"Good." Harry felt soft lips push onto his. He let himself be drawn into it, letting nothing be left in the world except the woman in front of him. He would have loved to have stay like this forever, loved to have gone away and maybe found somewhere with waterfalls. God knew he deserved it. But instead he pulled back and said what he had to, what he knew he had to.

"It's not over Thea."

"What?"

"It isn't over." Harry could see the joy on her face utterly crushed. He saw Draco, standing a polite few feet away jerk his head towards them and he heard the phoenix song, something that had been just on the edge of hearing, tail off and stop.

"What do you mean it isn't over?" The seer said harshly. "Are you making a joke or-"

"It's no joke. I so wish it was." Harry turned to see the veil still rippling behind him. "He can survive that. I mean I surprised him, weakened him. But he still has a Hocrux. He can come back. He will come back. It still isn't over."

The room was utterly silent. Maybe they had all known that. Maybe they had just wanted to enjoy the moment. Harry felt like he was crushing them all over again, but it had to be done.

"But at least he's weak." Harry heard Hermione say. "That's all we can do now. It's not like we can follow him in there."

"Not strictly true." Harry said simply. "I can follow him in there. I just can't come back."

The silence that followed that made the previous one sound like an earthquake. Pythea was the first to speak.

"No."

"Thea."

"No. I will not allow it." Low and stony, she must have learnt it in her training. It was the tone of command, almost impossible to resist. Harry shook his head.

"I have to."

"No."

"It has to end here. If it doesn't... He'll come back in a few months and... and I don't have the strength to do all this again. I just don't, I need it to end now. The thing is... as tired of this as I am everyone else is as well. The whole country is, it can't take much more before it dies entirely. Like me. It needs to end here or... or we won't get another chance."

There was another moment of silence.

"No."

"Thea..."

"No Harry! No! I won't let you!" The seer was in tears, her fingers gripped his robe like claws, she wouldn't let go. "You don't deserve this! You deserve to live!"

"Deserve is just another side of destiny." Harry shrugged. "The spider was right. The bloody spider was right. I _am_ going to die."

"Don't say that."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"_You're_ sorry." Pythea was crying into his shirt. Harry put his arms around her, holding her close. All around them the phoenixes began singing again, a deep and sorrowful note that never grew higher. "_You're_ sorry. I should never have went to find you. Should have never brought you back. I lied, I was there to bring you-"

"I know." Harry shrugged. "It was pretty obvious. I was glad to see you anyway. I love you."

"I... I... Please don't go." She looked up at him, pleading.

"It had to come down to this. Every year I've been dying for other people. At least this makes it official." Harry forced himself to take a step back, releasing Thea.

He looked around, he was the focus of two rows of attention. The marauders in a circle around him, the phoenixes around them, still singing their sad song. Harry cleared his throat.

"Once again I find myself without a wand-" Every marauder pushed theirs forwards. Harry bowed his head, a little tear dropping from his eye. "Thank you. All of you. I can't apologise enough for leaving you-"

"We understand Harry." Was all Draco said. "We get it."

"Thank you." Harry went around the circle, lifting first one wand then the next. He knew the one that would be best after just a few, but he went round anyway. He looked each marauder in the eye. Some of them were crying, some weren't. Harry was. He wanted to tell them what they meant to him, each of them. But then he'd never leave. He didn't want to leave.

After he had been the whole way round he turned to Ron. The heavy wand was handed over wordlessly. It was made of oak, solid wood. Harry took a deep breath and was about to leave before a hand fell on his shoulder.

"Take this too." Draco pushed a small knife into his hand. "Basilisk fang."

"Right, for luck." Harry half smiled and turned to the veil. He wanted to turn back to Thea, tell her... something. Anything. But he couldn't. All he could do was step right up the the fluttering surface. The phoenix song rose to a crescendo, giving him a little strength. A little hope.

"Just one thing." Harry spoke over his shoulder. "If I get a tombstone it says Jack. Not Harry freekin Potter."

Not waiting to see the reaction, he turned and plunged through the veil.

He felt blinding cold, then darkness.


	60. Three Mysteries: 4

Harry Potter and the Tree Mysteries Chapter 3: Death Part 2

_So this is what dying feels like. Feels a lot like falling but never hitting anything. Falling but somehow the wind was falling faster. Crazy vertigo, falling but the world falling away faster._

Harry sort of kept expecting to hear Dumbledore, it was traditional at this stage. But no voice came. Harry began to expect that this was a different kind of dead.

_The air rushing past him felt lumpy, foci of existence passing past him. Souls. The souls of all the people who died every second, every moment. He was just the only one with a body, the only one who had flesh to hold him together._

And a wand. And a knife. Harry gripped them hard in his hands. He had no idea what would happen if he dropped them. He tried to breath, tried to prepare himself for the fight. To finally beat the dark lord. But there wasn't anything left to do. He tried to breath deep breaths but it caught in his throat when he realized he was probably breathing in dead people.

_Orchard?_

No. No he needed to focus.

_Waterfall._

Harry closed his eyes and imagined the spray hitting his face. Imagined the birds. Very calming. Harry turned in the air so that he was feet first, the wind whipping against his hair, his clothes. There was something underneath him now, something he could see.

His magic eye was so mixed up with the strange shadows and swirls of insanity in the air that it was next to useless. He considered popping it out, it was only a distraction. Maybe it would be a little more use later on.

The light beneath him grew brighter and brighter, growing closer. It was pulling him in, like it was expecting him to resist. He didn't. He let it drag him in. The light encompassed him, then he felt his feet strike the ground. The sand.

Harry breathed deep and stepped forward. The desert unfurled out in front of him, flowing out like a sheet of silver sand. It was empty, footprints leading away, towards the distant hills. To his left, to his right... the veil. Stretching out like a vast wall, stretching out into infinity. The sky was a blank slate and the air felt alien. His magic eye was going mental, the air was full of spinning shapes. Barracudas in nowhere.

Harry took another breath of dead air and stepped forward, following the trail of blood. Just a few meters away, crouched in a ball or dark robes. The sand crunched under Harry's boot and Voldemort's head snapped up, twisting around to stair in shock and horror at his pursuer.

"Boo." Harry's wand came up faster than a striking snake and the sword slashed out, tearing another deep canyon of blood across the dark lords chest. "Surprised to see me?" Harry lashed out again but the dark lord dissolved into nothing. Harry's eye caught him for about a millisecond before the shadows everywhere covered him. Harry spun on the spot, wand held out ready.

Harry.

The blow came from nowhere and became a fist travelling faster than light. Harry was lifted into the air and skidded through the sand. He struck the veil and it felt like diamond, harder than diamond. It was rippling in the wind and still it was harder than steel.

The air came together. The sharks gathered. Voldemort was there. There was no flash, no pop, he was just there.

"I cannot believe you did that." The dark lord raised an eyebrow. "I have tried to kill you for seventeen years and you destroy yourself without a thought."

Harry silently pushed himself to his feet. The dead were everywhere, he was totally surrounded. He was even more outmatched than usual. Well, what was the worst that could happen? He was already dead.

"Snake-face, you're looking well. Didn't you have a giant hole through your chest thirty seconds ago?"

"Did you not have a broken leg?"

"Good point." Harry stood and shook out his arms. "Well? This is it then."

"Yes." The dark lord glanced around, almost pensive. "This is almost too simple a place. We should be fighting in the mountains," Voldemort gestured to the distant hills. "Or perhaps further out on the plain, there are places there where the darkness gathers thick... pools... trees made of steel wire. Cathedrals of the dead that no one else has seen."

"I'll put it on my vacation list. It's quite low down though, the first thing's the Taj Mahal. Your cathedral is down with the world largest ball of twine."

"You don't think this is an important day? An auspicious day?"

"It's a day like any other for most of the world." Harry shrugged. "One of the things I learned travelling. You may think you're a big deal but... meh. Around Europe you're kind of feared. English speaking countries, yeah they've mostly heard or you. Everywhere else? Not so much. Maybe they would have learned... in time. But not now. I won't let the rest of the world get touched by your crap. At least while you're destroying my life the shit's all concentrated in one place. On me. You ruined my life you slimy inbred twat, turned it from something that could have been... anything, to something out of a nightmare. Well I recently found some _Buddha_, what's done is done. But at least the rest of the world can be kept at least a little clean. My friends, the rest of their lives... they can be better. So see the veil behind me? That line people can't cross? Well you're not bloody crossing it either. You're ending here. "

The dark lord was silent for a moment then...

"I was wrong. This is a good place." The dark lord nodded. "I do not know what the real Harry Potter would have been like to fight but... I am glad it is you."

"Thanks man. That means a lot." Harry's wand flashed up. "_Cardusmark!_" The dark lord was smoke before the spell touched him and Harry was left spinning again. The desert, empty in one eye and full in the other seemed to mock him.

Harry had no warning, the blow came from nowhere. This time it wasn't a warning, it was designed to kill and Harry barely twitched out of the way of the worst of it. It still felt like being hit by a train made of ice. Harry skidded through the sand and stabbed his wand at the dark lord, or at least where the dark lord had been. Gone.

Harry spun on the spot, the shadows playing merry hell with anything like a sense of direction.

_You may think you can't die Potter. But you can be destroyed. No afterlife for you. Your soul shattered._

"_Ferio!_" Harry fired on total instinct. He was off by a mile and the blow came too quick to dodge. "_Protego!_" Harry's shield held through desperate hope and Voldemort vanished into the ether.

Harry's skin crawled. He felt like he was being pulled out of his flesh. No! Harry gritted his teeth. He needed this body just a little longer.

The shadows were gathering. There would be another attack. Harry didn't have time to attack and dodge. He'd have to do just one. Just attack, and if he missed... he'd be dead. Well... more dead.

_Well Harry? Are you ready?_

"Just for clarities sake what would you do if I said no?" Silence. "Right."

Harry wanted to close his eyes. He'd spent so long relying on his magic one that whenever he wanted to see clearly he closed them. Now he couldn't even afford to blink. He kept his wand light in his hand. Had to be quick... had to-

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Harry's wand was dead on. The dark lord appeared out of nothing and the curse exploded out of his wand, gathering energy from the world around and shooting out like a column of pure power. Green light blinded Harry, the recoil made his arm snap back painfully, the stabs of the darkness stabbed into his bones. Slowly, very slowly... like the tide. Harry stepped back, every muscle aching... every bit of energy spent.

"That spell is useless against me Harry." The dark lord smiled. "Most spells are really. But that one especially."

"Really? Damn." Harry pushed his wand into his belt and stepped away from where he was standing. "I'm heading for those mountains over there. You coming?"

"What?"

"Well we can't go back through the veil. I'm walking that way." Harry chuckled. "You can go wherever you want. Except back of course..."

"Are you totally deranged Potter?"

"My name is Jack, and yes." Harry put his hands to his hips. "I've also won. Seven god-forsaken years, and I've finally won... _YES!_" Harry punched the sky unexpectedly, crowing and falling to his knees. "It feels good enough for me to stop being sarcastic about it! I've finally, undeniably and totally... WON!"

"You are insane!" The dark lord growled. "Your spell did nothing!"

"The spell was a decoy." Harry laughed.

"For what?"

"Look down."

The dark lord's eyes flickered down to his chest. The knife hilt, the basilisk knife, stuck into his ribcage.

"Ha! I believe you may be celebrating prematurely. This will not kill me either."

"Wasn't aiming at you. Well... I was aiming at you, but only by coincidence." Harry tapped his chest, then his eye. "Look deeper."

But as Harry said it the dark lord pulled the knife out and there was the silky scrape of metal. A tiny scrap of gold fell to the floor, dropping from the bottom of the dark lord's robe, trailing it's chain. A heavy locket, stabbed straight through.

"Bullseye." Harry smiled. "I win."

The dark lord's eyes went wide. In a flash he was at the veil, clawing at it's surface, screaming. Harry laughed as he watched Tom Riddle slam his fists into the imperturbable surface until they were covered in blood. The wailing from the dark lord expanded into the empty desert and Harry's laughter filled to gaps.

"All that effort to avoid dying and you walked into death willingly." Harry tutted. "Foolish."

"I will..." The dark lord's voice was choked with tears. His form was growing fuzzy around the edges, the shadows were gathering. "For this I will-"

"What? Kill me?" Harry shrugged. "Do your worst." Harry turned and walked away from the veil, laughing all the way. A part of him wanted to turn and tear the dark lord limb from limb, torture or burn him or flay his skin off for everything he'd done. It was a part of him that he ignored. He had finally killed the dark lord, and that was enough. The dark lord was dead, the fact that he was still moving and wailing was only an incidental. Oh... now it sounded like he was crying. Pathetic.

Harry followed the footprints away, towards the distant hills. The screaming of the dark lord followed him. He looked back once, the dark lord was still beating his hands against the impenetrable barrier weakly. The dark shape was becoming a blur, the shadows gathered around like piranhas. He looked back again, and there was nothing left but the rippling veil.

So that was it. He should really feel happier. He was fairly happy sure, but mainly just drained. His fingers felt numb, having trouble feeling anything now... NO! No! Harry shook his head to keep his soul in. It had been better when he had been laughing. Harry opened his mouth wide and barked out a forced laugh. Actually it didn't help much.

He was dead. He could try to avoid thinking about it, but he was dead.

Harry turned back to the hills. They seemed a lot closer now, distances changing. And, peeking over the edge like a sunrise, was a sickly purple light. Lighting up the sky.

"Aright, I'm coming." Harry spoke to the dead air. "Keep your spidery hair on."

The sand was kicked up by a sudden wind, when it died down the distant hills were even closer. There looked like a staircase was cut into it, a thin path to the summit. Harry momentarily considered not climbing the stair, looking around for another path. Who was he fooling, there wouldn't be another path.

Harry started up the path, his legs burning with fatigue already. He didn't really know where he was going, probably towards some sort of spidery death. Not death. He was already dead. Screw it. Harry kept climbing, his wand still in his hand.

He looked back over the desert, the veil was still clearly visibly stretching to the sky. Harry turned away. No way out that way.

Step. Step. Step. Harry climbed up. It wasn't even a mountain really. The sides were just flat planes down to the plain below. Step. Step. Why was he bothering? Because it was marginally preferable to lying down to die. Or die more. Step. Step. He was almost at the top. As he climbed the summit came into view. Harry's feet faltered at the sight, but he kept going.

Rising above the edge of the rock, rising into the sky... the sphinx waited. Great haunches like hills themselves, made of rock or sandstone or something else. Paws stretched forward, one lying over a great ankh, the other over an equally massive key. Either one could have crushed Harry in an instant. It's massive head, maned in red-ribboned rock with a lions head. Not a woman with lions features, a lion. With bloody massive teeth. Perfectly still it waited, even it's crystal purple eyes. Harry could have believed it was simply a statue, if he had been an idiot.

Harry reached the plateau, a circular dais lifted slightly above the the rest of the mountaintop. Just before the beast's massive mouth. Harry tried not to think of it as a platter. He stepped into the centre of the circle and looked up at the cold eyes.

"Well?"

_WELCOME NAMELESS._

"Yeah yeah yeah." Harry snorted. "So you're what? Anubis? Saint Peter? Judge dread?"

_YOU KNOW WHAT I AM. I AM THE END. I AM YOUR END, AND THE END OF EVERYTHING_. The massive beast shifted like the grinding of continents. _IT HAS BEEN A LONG WAIT NAMELESS. BUT YOU ARE HERE NONETHELESS. YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED BEFORE YOU COULD WALK, BUT NO ONE ESCAPES FOREVER. IN THE END, ALL ARRIVE HERE._

"Really?" Harry glanced right at the blank mountain, then left. "Don't people die every single second? Where are they?"

_IN THE AIR, IN THE ETHER. THEY ARE BLOWN THROUGH NOTHING TO ME. THERE IS JUDGEMENT HERE FOR ALL, JUDGEMENT. THAT IS ALSO WHAT I AM. THE FINAL JUDGEMENT._

"For Voldemort?" Harry glanced down the mountainside. "What about him?"

_HE WAS JUDGED WANTING._

"Good." Harry's mouth twisted into a smile. "Good." Harry threw his head back and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. So it was done then. It was finally done. His friends, the world he had left... they would be safe. They would be able to live without fear or the unrelenting pain that his had been. Well... mostly unrelenting. There had been some good bits. Harry chuckled under his breath. There had been some good bits... Harry closed his eyes...

*

Some people's lives flash before their eyes before they die. Harry's flashed by after. Every moment, every happy spark in his existence. It was magic. It had to be. Or maybe it was this place. Maybe it was that he was dead. But he remembered everything. Absolutely everything.

Crashing rocks battering his tiny form and pushing him to a muddy bank. Warm hands lifting him up. Warm but for a cold ring. He could feel every callus of their hands. A blanket. Warmth. People talking. Lights...

Laughing as he worked out how his legs worked. How to walk, how to run. He remembered he liked running. He ran a lot. He climbed a lot too. Now he was climbing the wall of the orphanage. Falling down and crying. Being comforted. Kissed better... Climbing again. Succeeding again this time. Smiling as he raced towards the trees he could see down the hill. Apple blossoms... He put a bucket of water over the headteacher's office door. How had he even reached that far? Eating desert with the other orphans. Cake. Lemon. Ice cream.

At the Dursleys, a different face. A different time. Leaving, throwing everything he could find in a bag. Breaking Dudley's walkman under his heel as he rushed out the door. Scattering the pieces over the garden. He hadn't made a sound until he's reached the end of the street. And then he'd cried... he was so happy, he'd finally done it. He'd gotten free.

Children laughing as he spun three batons above his head. Laughing. Summer. Summer was always best.

The train to Hogwarts. Meeting the marauders, faces he'd known longer than his own. They looked so small. Were they ever that small? Neville looked nervous, Ron was made of freckles, the twins still dressed alike back then, they looked like toys in a shelf in a shop. Backflipping to impress them. Giving them their name. Recruiting Hermione. Throwing oil on Snape. Oh _how_ could he have forgotten that. That was genius. And the posters were even better. Running through Kings Cross, dodging carts and making for the door. Laughing...

Greece... Thea...

*

_STEP FORWARD._ The words carried an order on them. A force of will powerful enough to make Harry's legs move of their own accord. _STEP FORWARD AND BE JUDGED._

*

Thea... smiling and giving him the necklace. Harry's hand went to his neck. Not there. He had had it in the temple. He had had it in Venice. Where had he lost it? When he passed through the veil? In the fight before... He felt incomplete without it. It was part of him, when even his face hadn't been his it had been him.

Memories streaming on, faster now. Harry stood in the chamber of secrets, saving Ginny, fighting Flint, being wreathed in phoenix fire. He stood in the flickering light of time and felt it burn into his skin. Thea...

He stole a ship! Why had he stolen a ship? Oh yes... the tournament. Forcing it forward through the lake and shooting upwards into the spray. Laughing as he flew to shore. Landing in meringue. Landing in meringue? His life was insane.

*

_STEP FORWARD!_

*

Standing in the rain. Standing in the rain and speaking to the shining face of Harry Potter. Harry's hand strayed to his neck again. Hearing the voice of the man he was supposed to be. Realising he was. Thea... Fighting the dark lord, the blood pumping in his ears as he spun through sandstorms to survive.

Winning.

*

_YOU WILL BE JUDGED! STEP FORWARD!_

*

Faster, flickering like shutterflash.

A summer at Malfoy Manor... Lemonade... Ice cream... Laughing...

Faster and faster...

Standing alone by the sea in Rio... drinking in the night air. Climbing to the temple. Peace... Waking up and being told through fiery eyes to expect a guest.

Thea... Venice. Thea...

…

Happiness?

A little... in between the horror.

Enough?

...no.

*

_STEP FORWARD! STEP FORWARD AND MEET YOUR FATE!_

Harry's eyes slowly rose.

"No."

_NO?_

"No." Harry's hand flickered into his hand. Shutterspeed. "Not a chance. Never. I will not bloody step forward. I'm stepping back. And you're letting me."

_YOU ARE INSANE NAMELESS._

"Screw you. I've earned this. I've earned my life. If the is anyone who deserves to go back through that curtain I've earned it! Well, OK... lots of people have earned it. But I'm the only one bad-ass enough to _take it_."

_THAT IS IRRELEVANT._

"Says you! And who the hell are you anyway? What the hell gives you the right to judge me! Or anyone? Sitting here on a rock- You're a vulture! I've lived however I've had to and I do not care what _your opinion_ about my life is. Because you know what? It was my god damn life! Lots of people tried to take it away from my in various complicated and unfortunate ways. They tried to break me, make me someone else, burn me, beat me, crush my spirit or just plain slit my sarcastic throat but I always _always_ took my life back! NO ONE takes that from me! My life had some truly sucky episodes but it's still mine. I'll take the good with the bad and I'm not giving it up now, not when it just started! I'm _living!_ I'm going back!"

_YOU CANNOT! YOUR LIFE IS OVER! YOU ARE DEAD!_

"You can make it happen!" Harry challenged. "Can't you?"

_I CAN. I WILL NOT. STEP FORWARD!_

"Pretty please with a cherry on it?"

_STEP FORWARD_

"Ok fine. If you won't listen to my reasonable arguments..." Harry stabbed his wand forward. "You have a choice between letting me out willingly or me beating the living shit out of you, breaking out anyway, going to Egypt and making damn sure they build a Starbucks in your arse!"

_YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT DEATH? YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND AGAINST A FORCE OF NATURE? YOU THINK YOU CAN DENY THE INEVITABLE?_

"I've been doing that every moment of my life."

_YOU ARE DEAD!_

"Really? Cos I've never felt more alive." Harry could feel every muscle tensing. His blood pumping harder. The sphinx shifted, standing on pillar-like legs. Towering above Harry, light shining down on him like a searchlight. Claws longer than Harry's entire body, black with dried blood. Unstoppable mystical power. Harry smiled,

"Here kitty kitty."

An inhuman roar so loud the earth splintered apart tore through the air but Harry was already dashing away, the explosion of air only pushing him faster. One boot shredded the ground as Harry skidded, spun and fired up, an explosion of pure plasma and mana, the heat of the sun. It gouged into death's eye, blue fire shattering purple and tearing bright auroras through the air.

A claw the size of a truck smashed down but Harry banished himself away like bullet and twisted in the air.

"_Jupital!_" Harry fired from the air, peppering the vast flank of the beast with electric death. His feet hit the ground as it's roar of pain shook the air. "Feel that! That's _life!_"

Harry's foot twisted on the rough ground and in a moment Death's paw was there, swatting him like a fly. He flew across the ground, tumbling like a leaf and losing skin by the square yard. He had left a trail of blood. Wonderful, it showed he was still alive. Harry sprung up and jammed his wand at the ground.

"_Muil!_" A spike of metal stabbed out of the ground like a spear just in time for the sphinx's swiping paw to impale itself on it. Black blood and cracking rock filled the air. "_Galbinus digitus!_" Vines as thick as trees anchored the arm to the ground. Harry sprinted forward, his blood pumping in his ears. One foot pushed off the spike, the next off the rock skin. It was cold as ice. Harry leapt up like a squirrel, his hands grasping the cracks in the ice cold stone.

Purple light!

Harry threw himself back just as lasers like lightning bolts hammered out of Death's eyes and blew the arm where he had been away.

_He shot his own arm! That's not fair!_

"Hammus Missus!" Harry fired the grapple as he fell and his arm was almost jerked out of it's socket as he fell, swinging under the vast trunk of the beast as the rope drew him up like a rocket. He grabbed it's back and rolled on. "_Excalabus!_" Harry jammed the magic sword down to it's shifting hilt in the rock beneath him. Black blood spurted in his face. It tasted like rotten worlds. Harry pushed forward, running with the sword down, raking a twenty foot spurting line of putrid wound in the beast.

_He was doing it! He was hurting it! If he just reached the head-_

NO!

The rock under Harry became a wall! The thing was rolling! Harry was turfed off and hit the ground with a sickening crack. He only had a moment before the mountain of monolithic flesh rolled on top of him!

"_Evanesca!_" Harry aimed straight down and dropped into the tiny hole in the ground that he had made as the steamroller crashed over him. For a dark and airless moment everything went black then a sliver of light snapped back and Harry leapt out, dashing away and firing any spell he could think of behind him.

The noise of black claws shattering the ground as the massive creature crashed to it's feet was like hearing continents collide.

Harry screamed a charm, slamming another grappling hook up, but Death batter it away like a fly, tangling it in it's claws. Well that was good too. Harry spun the rope out in a vast loop and flicked his wand like a lasso. It lashed around the beast, around it's free legs.

Harry jumped forward into reach of it's arms. One massive paw snapped forward and the ropes snapped tight, pulling four legs like tree trunks together. Harry kept his feet in the shockwave of the falling giant and dashed forward, an insect before the fallen god. He leapt and landed on it's face, his arm came back, the sword flickering into glorious life again, back down, purple light. Harry stabbed deep into it's massive eye.

The explosion blew Harry into the air, burning him like a blowtorch. He flew, a piece of shrapnel, to smash into the ground below.

_Ow. Well at least I hurt him as much as he hurt me._

ENOUGH!

Harry felt a grip like a vice close around his neck. He was lifted off the ground as black spots swum in front of his eyes.

_YOU DARE COME INTO MY WORLD AND DO THIS TO ME!_

The face of Death came into view in front of Harry as he rose, fighting unconsciousness, his feet flailing uselessly. The cat's face. Lion's features dripping with black blood and the purple light of it's remaining eye tainted with enraged crimson. Every tooth was stained with blood.

_LITTLE INSECT! CRAWLING ON THE EARTH!_

Harry tried lo lift his wand but a force slammed it back to his side. The pressure on his neck doubled and Harry screamed in anguish.

_I HOLD THE POWER HERE! YOU HAVE NOTHING! NOTHING!_

Darkness, black darkness closing in. Thea, think of Thea! But it was no use, there was no air! Harry had nothing left. His eyes were flickering closed. Nothing left to give... Luckily he had an eye that didn't need light.

Gold.

_Gold?_

Gold.

_GOLD!_

Harry's eyes snapped open, finding the tiny spec of shining light tumbling through the air towards him. On only instinct, his hand snapped out. His fingers curled around the the light and in an instant the force around his neck snapped out like a switch. Harry plummeted down, the lion's head beneath him. As He fell he slashed out, lashing out again. The second eye flashed into view and Harry stabbed forward. Harry was tossed like a leaf by the blast but this time he was expecting it and spun as he flew, landing on his feet. His eye flickered down to the golden spark in his hand. A medallion? Like Voldemort had. The medallion that-

VEIL! THAT COULD GO THROUGH THE VEIL!

Harry's intelligent legs made up for his idiot brain and dashed away, running for the edge of the plateau.

He almost missed the figure standing on the edge of the ridge, his hand flung out, robe covering his face. The person who had thrown the medallion, the person who had saved him.

_Who the hell was standing on a hill in hell?_

Questions later. Fleeing now.

"Go! Run!" Harry yelled as loud as he could. "The veil!" The figure spun and stumbled away, grabbing his leg. Whoever it was they were hurt badly. Harry could hear the crashing behind him of the blind god rising. They needed to escape! Harry spun and fired hexes, anything he could think of. He had to give his saviour time to get away!

"Hey! Hey you stupid spayed bitch! Over here!" The ground shattered with every powerful stroke and Harry was thrown to the side.

_Ok. Bad plan._

Harry dashed for the edge of the cliff, aiming his wand at the ground.

"_Pinguis!_" The ground instantly went slick like oil. Harry leapt in a rugby tackle, and slammed into his saviour, throwing them both off the edge of the cliff and sliding down faster and faster. The earth shook like an earthquake and Harry jerked his friend to the side as a crashing claw broke the mountainside.

Harry spun his wand in his hand and lashed the roughest healing he's ever cast at the man beside him. Harry's feet his the desert plain and he ran. Feet biting dirt, pushing and dragging and sometimes almost carrying the mad beside him as fast as both their legs would take them towards the distant veil.

Crashing lightning bolts rained down blindly, trying to stop them, the plain itself rose up like waves. Harry crashed through the waves and kept running. He slammed his hand into his friend's closing the medallion between them. Harry's legs pumped like pistons, his other hand flung out forward. The veil was so close. A bolt of lightning slammed right in front of him and Harry screamed a shield. The spell shattered almost instantly but another was thrown up from Harry's right the same moment and they were through, leaping into the shadows if the veil.

It was like falling into toxic waste. Harry splashed into it and dug his feet into the ground, forcing himself into the blackness. It wasn't enough, he could feel the other man struggling beside him. There wasn't enough power in the golden amulet to take them both through. Harry's fingers moved to release but he couldn't the hand with the gold was already inside the veil and stuck there. Harry twisted and he could see the massive god of death bearing down on them like a behemoth, it's blood streaming from it's ravaged face and back like a river. Stuck like this Harry would have no chance. He was dead.

Well... more dead.

The air in front of Harry misted over and Harry could hear the roars of the beast getting quieter. Time seemed to slow... The mist pulled together, shifting shades forming together. Piercing eyes looked out of the nothingness out at him, a wry smile. Dumbledore reached out towards Harry out of the smoke. He spoke but Harry couldn't hear anything. He spoke again, just one word. This time Harry understood.

"Stop saying sorry old man. I forgave you ages ago."

The old man's face broke into a smile for a moment before his features shifted and a new face appeared, young smooth skin and flowing hair.

"Ginny. I'm so so-" A ghostly finger was placed over his lips and Ginny smiled at him. A beaming smile that he hadn't seen in a long time, even that last year she had been alive. The mist parted again and a new face rose. Even younger, rising bodily out of the white. Clothes too big for his billowing in the smoke, lightning scar clear on his forehead.

The six year old Harry Potter stepped forward and embraced the seventeen year old. The childs lips moved and this time a little noise came out. Just a little...

_Thank you._

"Any time brother."

The shade drew back and the three figures merged. Three faces becoming one, six eyes fading into one another. Six hands shifted together into two and reached forward, grabbing Harry by his lapels. The mist gathered and Harry could see other spirits, other faces, other hands joining the ones already there. Then... as one... they clenched... and _pushed_.

Harry couldn't help but scream as the pressure crushed him between the hands and the wall as he slid slowly into the veil. As he at last slid through the surface the last thing he saw was the screaming face of death howling as he escaped from her domain.

_Take that bitch._

Harry cried out in triumph as he flew up like a bullet, wind whistling in his hair. He crashed out of the veil and stumbled to a dusty stone floor. The medallion fell from his hand and clattered to the floor in pieces. It hadn't survived. Maybe two people really had been too much for it.

Harry tried for a moment to rise but every muscle in his body quickly informed him that that was a stupid plan and he slumped back to the floor, taking huge gulps of the stale air. He could hear someone beside him doing the same. His eye swivelled in it's socket and at long last Harry got a good look at his rescuer. Even in his weakened state Harry almost choked in surprise.

"_Lupin?_"

The old professor didn't move, didn't respond. Probably didn't have the energy. Harry dragged himself to his knees and raised his wand to heal, only to find that it had been broken in two by the transit through the veil. Harry dropped it to the floor and reached forward. Maybe he could manage wandless magic one more time...

A light glow told him he had been successful and the werewolf turned over, his face still twisted in almost total exhaustion.

"Lupin is that really you?"

"Did we get out?"

"Yes. We got out." Harry glanced around. "I've been here before, it's in Egypt. Definitely on this planet. Last time I was here it was falling apart though."

"Are we alive?"

"Yes we're alive." Harry almost laughed. "Yes, despite everything we are actually alive. Do you want to tell me how the hell you got Voldemort's medallion and went into and... everything?"

"I found it... on the ground. Voldemort attacked Malfoy manor. I was left behind and... left for dead... there were veils everywhere. I saw you fight the dark lord. I found it in the rubble, I think it was the one he used to take Thea through the veil."

"So you... you came in after me? You don't even like me."

"You... you beat the dark lord. I couldn't... I couldn't just." Lupin ran out of breath and crumpled to the floor, resting his forehead against the rock.

"You couldn't leave me." Harry finished the sentence off for him. "You couldn't even have known if you'd get back."

Lupin didn't respond, just kept panting for breath.

"You could have died."

"Had to..."

Harry run out of words. He couldn't even think of the beginning of anything to say. After a very long pause he settled for-

"You saved my life." Lupin didn't answer, just looked at him. "Thank you." They saw there in silence for a few moments more. As the seconds crawled by Harry noticed something in Lupins gaze that made him laugh out loud.

"Oh my god! You still hate me don't you?"

"I..." Lupin sort of shrugged. "Sorry. I've done it for so long I don't think I can stop."

"You went through the veil for me." Harry threw his head back and laughed. "And you _still_ hate me."

"Sorry. I don't think I can stop. I've hated you for a long time."

"Well I don't hate you. People who save my life get a pass on hating me." There was silence again for a moment then.

"I saw James and Lilly. They pushed me through the veil."

"I saw Dumbledore. And Ginny. And... Harry."

"Harry?"

"Yeah."

"How did he look?"

"Dead."

"Oh."

"Happy."

"Really?" Lupin looked back up at the rippling veil. "It's a bleak place. Death."

"I don't think it's all like that." Harry shook his head. "Maybe that's just a kind of... stopping off point. Last time I was dead it was a lot nicer."

"Nicer?"

"More trees. Less angry mythical monsters. Few butterflies."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"No. They're... they're happy. Wherever they are they're happy." Harry paused. "You still got your wand Lupin?"

"Yes. Why?"

"We're surrounded by killer assassins."

"Oh." Another pause. "Is this what your life is like? One disaster to another?"

"Pretty much." Harry pushed himself to his feet as a white robed shape separated itself from the darkness.

"Frances." Harry waved weakly. "Hi, how you doing?"

"Hello Mr Potter."

"Please, call me Harry. Mr Potter is my father. Wait... no he isn't." Harry wondered briefly how much blood he had left in him. Not a great deal probably.

"You came out of the veil."

"Yeah... yeah I did. You planning on putting me back in?"

"I..." Frances looked from Harry to the veil then back. "You survived death itself. You survived what no one is supposed to survive... Death. You defeated the dark lord. You are the hero your name was meant for. You have no destiny and yet... I cannot help but think that there must be a plan behind all this. I cannot help but think that perhaps god has a plan for you that we do not know. I... No. I am not going to kill you Harry Potter."

"My friends call me Jack." Harry managed to step forward. "Thank you for not killing me."

"Let us help your friend." Frances gestured to Lupin. A while cloaked man instantly moved forward towards him.

"Are you going to get in trouble with your boss for letting me go?"

"Perhaps." Frances smiled. "But since he gave Voldemort your location I have been thinking that perhaps the order needs a change in leadership."

"Need any help?"

"I think you need to get home Mr Jack." The monk bowed slightly. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah... about getting home." Harry glanced down at his tattered clothing then back at the injured Lupin. "Any chance of a lift?"

"All this is going to take years to repair properly." Hermione pushed her hair behind her ear and looked up at the ruined stump of Gryfindor tower.

"Hermione sit down." Ron was sitting nearby, his face in his hands. "You've been up since the battle, and before that. You need to rest."

"I can't! How can you?" Hermione hugged her arms around her chest. "I can't just rest. There's too much to do. Hogwarts is a wreck, there are injured people, the only parts of the ministry left alive are still covering in the basement..."

"We've done everything we can for the injured people and Hogwarts won't get built in a day. The order of the phoenix are dealing with everything else. Let them deal with everything else, they didn't just have to fight dead souls." Ron stood and put his arms around her. "Just lie down for a little while. You'll feel better."

"But everyone else is working."

"Only when you're watching them."

Hermione buried her head in Ron's chest and closed her eyes. She could almost fall asleep right here... except...

"Is that a helicopter?" Hermione cupped a hand to her ear. "It sounds like a helicopter."

"Why would a Helly-copter be flying around Hogwarts." Ron shook his head.

"It's definitely a helicopter. It's really close..." Hermione cocked her head. "It sounds like it's landing."

"Who would be arriving here by helicopter? Except for someone trying to make... an... entrance...'" Ron's eyes went wide suddenly. "You don't think..." But Hermione was already running, bursting out into the corridor with Ron hot on her heels. Crowds joined them as they ran and when she came to the cracked steps of the school all the marauders were already there, the order, the ministry. Hermione raised herself up on tiptoes but she couldn't see over them. Ron's hands closed on her waist and she was lifted up, above the crowd. She could see the crush pushing close right next to the helicopter, but one figure was forcing her way through it. Blond hair, white robes. The crowd opened for the seer and she was at the door to the machine before it even opened. The crowd went silent. They didn't want to hope. They didn't want to believe.

The door slid open...

A vast intake of breath...

Hermione put her hands to her mouth...

A heavy boot slid out of the cracked door and kicked it full open.

In one voice the crowd started yelling, crying, cheering. Hermione couldn't help but join in. Tears streaming down her face as she saw her friend, their hero, the man who could survive anything, the true hero, Harry Jack Potter, jump down and embrace the woman he loved. The phoenix song rose all around, greeting their friend, their kin. The only other creature in the world to defeat death. Hermione could hear Pythea crying over the noise of the crowd, sobbing in happiness, grabbing Harry's face as if to make sure he was real. Hermione brushed a tear from her face, it was beautiful.

"What's going on?" Ron yelled behind her. "I can't see a thing!"

* * *

EPILOGUE: One month later

Draco gave one last futile check in around the classroom before shrugging and adjusting his tie in a mirror before lifting his drink from the desk and stepping out the door. Back to the party. A month later ant only now had they got around to celebrate the victory. It had taken that long to clean up the mess.

"Mr Malfoy. Did you find Harry?" The voice came from behind him.

"No Professor." Draco turned to McGonnagall. "I don't think he's in the castle. There really aren't many places to hide until everything is repaired."

"Where can he be? He has to give a speech in just a few minutes."

"Then he'll probably be here in a few minutes. If he gets here at all." Draco shrugged. "He's earned being late."

"Well of course." The headmistress walked up to stand next to Draco. "How are you feeling today Mr Malfoy?"

"Um..." The question caught him off guard. "Quite good I suppose."

"Are the transformations becoming easier?"

"They're more... predictable."

"You've been spending a great deal of your time at Hogwarts recently haven't you? I know I have seen you here a good deal. Helping with the restoration."

"What's all this is about?" Draco's brow crinkled.

"Straight to the point. Alright Mr Malfoy. You know I intend to open this school for next summers intake whether the repairs are complete or not."

"It's been in the papers."

"What you perhaps do not know is that Professor Michelson will be leaving us as defence against the dark arts teacher. He is returning to his travels. Apparently some student told him about a creature called the Crumple Horned Snorkack and he now simply must hunt one. As such I require a new teacher."

"Are you thinking of Harry?" Draco asked sceptically. "I doubt he'd have the patience to teach, and he might spend more time messing with the other teachers than-"

"I was in fact thinking of offering you the job Mr Malfoy." Draco opened his mouth wide in shock. The thought had never occurred to him. "I understand you taught your friends combat techniques back when the marauder army was first put together."

"My friends yes, but other people?" Draco shook his head. "I don't know. And besides, I'm a werewolf. Won't people complain?"

"I have no doubt they will." Professor McGonnagall smiled. "But I do not listen to _that type_ of person."

"But I... I can't. I'm not... suitable." Draco couldn't meet his old teacher's eyes. "I'm just... I'm sorry. I can't take the job. People wouldn't accept it."

"Mr Malfoy..." McGonnagall looked like she was about to say something then smiled. "There is a thing I have noticed Mr Malfoy, about people who keep secrets. Especially secrets they have had to keep for a very long time. They fear that people will find out, but often they think they keep the secret better than they actually are. Often the people close to them know..."

"Did Hermione say something?" Draco felt cold fear gripping his heart.

"I dare say I guessed a good deal before Miss Granger. After all, I have seen it before in someone very close to me." The old Professor bowed her head. "You are actually quite like him. Feeling almost like there is something wrong with you, feeling inadequate despite your many successes. And you both had many successes."

"Who?" Draco was confused. He hadn't ever envisioned himself having this conversation.

"The greatest Headmaster this school has ever had."

"Dumbledore?" Draco felt his breath catch in his throat. So that was why the old man had never married. He had never had a paramour, never been involved with anyone. Because he was also... wrong. Well, according to most of wizard society he was wrong. Draco's mouth felt dry but he managed to say, "Did he tell you?"

"No. But I knew. There were letters between himself and another boy when he was young. Reading between the lines the true nature of the relationship was obvious to someone who knew him. I never told him I read them. It was his choice to keep the secret and I respected that."

"But... but he was Dumbledore."

"Why would this change that?" McGonnagall reached out and placed a comforting hand on Draco's shoulder. For McGonnagall that was probably like a hug. "All I am trying to tell you Mr Malfoy is that if you choose to tell people I will support that decision. If people complain, well I don't listen to that type of person either. But even if you choose to never tell anyone, you are still in illustrious company."

Draco felt a tear come to his eye. He really hadn't ever imagined having this conversation.

"So. Enough of that." McGonnagall stepped back and adjusted her bun, her normal expression of sternness on her face. "Will you take the job or not?"

"I... yes!" Draco blurted. "Yes I'll take the job."

"Wonderful. I will expect a brief curriculum by the end of the week, I'll arrange to have the owl and newt syllabi given to you tomorrow." Mcgonnagall turned away and began striding towards the great hall. Draco followed her. "You will not be joining an entirely unfamiliar staff. I have hired The Pythea to teach divination."

"What about Professor Trewalny?"

"She was killed." The response was brief, but filled with strained emotion.

"I didn't even know."

"Only her family and friends were at the funeral." McGonnagall said quickly. "I considered dropping the subject entirely but my deputy headmaster informed me that having an easy subject increases our overall average scores."

"So you made Snape your Deputy Head?"

"He has earned it."

"Right."

"And your friend Neville is going to be helping professor Sprout, who needs assistance since her injuries." They reached the entrance to the great hall and Draco paused, thinking he should say something. All he could think up was,

"Thank you for the job Professor McGonnagall."

"Minerva, you will have to get used to calling me that."

"Yes Minerva." Draco had a thought. "Will you still be teaching transfiguration?"

"No, I do not believe I will have time. I have selected someone else for the job."

"Not another marauder?" Draco smiled. "Soon we'll be the majority."

"No not another of your friends Mr Malfoy.. I will be asking an old acquaintance to take the job. Her name is Jane Archon, she is quite capable."

"Hermione turned you down didn't she?"

"Enjoy the party Professor Malfoy."

Snape took a deep sip of wine, it was quite a good vintage. They had clearly taken care over this party. Only right that they should, after all this war had in truth lasted the lifetime of most of the people around his table. But that was only because he was at the marauder table.

"Where _is_ Harry?" Hermione kept looking around the great hall at the other tables as the clock clicked forward. "And where's Pythea?"

"They are no doubt together." Snape raised an eyebrow. "They often are."

As Hermione blushed Snape smiled and glanced to Natalie on his left. He certainly hadn't left her side a great deal in the last few weeks, although that might be partially die to the small sparkling ring on her finger. The stone had taken a rather complicated potion to make. It had been easily worth it. The look on her face had been the happiest moment of his life.

The moment when someone suggested a double wedding with Lupin somewhat less so. At least he had steered off that idea, he had been prepared to use poison to avoid it.

"I can't believe the papers are still talking about him as the chosen one." Padma Patil was shaking her head as she read a copy of the prophet. "I mean people know who he really is now!"

"Most people probably do not fully comprehend." Snape shrugged. "The headline read 'Harry Potter defeats Voldemort' and that is all most people read."

"Yeah but still..."

"Do you think Harry's got delayed or something?" Hermione was still watching the crowd.

"Oh no there he is!" Ron pointed at the doors of the great hall just as a cheer went up from the crowd. Snape craned to look as the boy hero cheerfully trotted through the crowd and vaulted up onto the raised stage of the high table. He typically hadn't bothered with dress rodes.

"So nice of all of you to come!" Harry spread his arms wide and welcomed the applause.

"Is there something different about Harry?" Natalie asked suddenly, but the boy was still speaking.

"I'm not very good at speeches, I prefer punching things, but here goes... The dark lord is dead!" Harry waited again for the applause to die down. "Well that went down well. Goodbye... Nah I'm kidding. But it's been a long battle, and we've all lost friends, family... we can't ever forget their sacrifices, or even our own sacrifices. Not much chance we will, but people traditionally say that so I thought I would. The most important thing though, is that it's finally over. We can finally get on with our lives. We can-" Harry's speech was cut short by a loud banging from the great door of Hogwarts. Snape's hand instinctual jumped to his wand.

"Damnit." Harry said, up on the podium. "Thought I had more time than that. Listen everyone! Everyone. Don't panic. What is about to come through those doors I have entirely under control. No one stands, no one draws wands. Understand? I have it under control."

"What's going on?" Ron hissed.

"Open the door!" Harry commanded, and flicked his wand, drawing the bolts back. As the heavy doors slid back a contingent of at least twenty goblins pushed in, angrily brandishing shock lances. Snape's hand slid to his wand again.

_No Snape. Trust me._

Snape didn't move his hand closer. He didn't move it back either.

"Harry Potter _aka_ Jack?" The goblin at the head of the formation barked.

"Technically the other way around but yes."

"You are under arrest for theft from Gringots bank."

"What!" The cry went up from all around the hall but Harry silenced it with a wave. Snape stood quickly.

"I believed this matter was settled. There is nothing to connect Harry to the theft from the Lestrange vault but unsubstantiated evidence."

_Sit down Snape._

"That was not the theft I was referring to." The goblin sneered. "I am referring to your theft from the Potter vault. The fact that you repeatedly and knowingly withdrew money from Harry Potter's inheritance despite the fact that you are _not_ Harry Potter."

"Ah yes." The one eyed boy smiled. "That."

"So you admit to the crime?"

"Well..." Harry tapped his lip, appearing to think. Then he shrugged and, to the horror of the room as a whole, said, "Why not? Yes."

"Those funds were necessary for the defeat of the dark lord!" Snape stood again.

_I have got this Snape. Please sit down_

"That is immaterial!" The goblin growled. "You have stolen from Gringots and so goblin justice applies."

"Yep, that's also true."

"So you submit?"

"Ah, now here's where we hit sort of a snag." Harry stepped out from behind the podium. "See you seem to be under the impression I'm going to... ah what's the phrase? '_Come Quietly_'. Which, you know what... that's not going to happen."

"You are resisting arrest?"

"That _was_ the implication."

"Then you leave me no choice." The goblin's voice went hard. For a moment the whole room was silent. Then the goblin's hands flashed forward, his bolt thrower in his hand. The arrow flashed through the air before anyone could stop it and flashed directly... through Harry's shoulder and into the wall behind him. The goblin didn't even hesitate in firing three more bolts straight through Harry and into the wall before dropping his arm to his side and yelling. "You're not really here!"

"Nope." Harry jumped down off the podium and walked directly through the lines of goblins like a ghost before turning and grinning at the door to Hogwarts.

"You cannot escape us!"

"Really?" Harry laughed. "Well I'll tell you something. There's something everyone's kind of forgotten. There's one last death eater out there. Barty Crouch. Barty freekin Crouch escaped and I once, when I was very young, made a promises to catch him. The fact that he's apparently fled to the continent and I might have to travel across half the world to exotic locations has _no_ influence on my decision. None whatsoever. Well... maybe a little. God I hope he tries to hide somewhere near Rome I haven't been there yet. I get bored with normality. I thought I wouldn't, I thought peace would agree with me but you know what? _Boring!_"

"You cannot hide! Gringots is everywhere!"

"And good luck holding your banks together when all the wizards take their gold out." Harry laughed and tuned to the marauders table. "Sorry guys, guess I won't be joining you for the rest of the meal. Ron can steal my desert. Write to me! But no traceable addresses!"

Harry laughed and waved as he slowly faded into the air. The last things to dissipate were his eyes, laughing out of nothingness until he vanished entirely like a Cheshire cat. The trickster god eternally, fooling the world.

As the room fell into chaos Snape smiled to himself and took another rip of wine.

"Do you think he'll be back." Natalie whispered over the din of the crowd.

"He will be. When he realizes what he's left behind." They shared a mental image of Harry standing on a beach, beside him a white-robed figure. "Yes... He'll be back."

"Good."

Snape smiled to himself as the goblins were driven from the room. He topped up his glass and raised it in a private toast.

"Harry... Bon Voyage."


End file.
